


Through The Fire And The Flames

by thanku4urlove



Series: TTFATF-verse [1]
Category: Hey! Say! JUMP, Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - How to Train Your Dragon Fusion, Dragon-related Violence, Flying, I mean it's an adventure fic with dragons in it idk what else you want, M/M, Originally Posted on LiveJournal, Shapeshifting, Very Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 11:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 50,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20795819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanku4urlove/pseuds/thanku4urlove
Summary: The village where Hikaru and his friends live has a bit of a dragon problem. While most of the people in the town want the dragons wiped out, Hikaru believes that there has to be some good in the creatures. Through a shocking near-death experience, he comes to find that there is more to the dragons than even he could imagine.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic for National Novel Writing Month in 2014! It was one of my favorite things for a very long time, and while there are definitely things I would change about it now and plenty of problems with it i have, it still has a soft spot in my heart.

As a strong woman who ruled a large coastal village with an iron fist, Yaotome Katsumi was steadfast and almost completely unshakeable in her beliefs. She knew what she wanted, and she knew the best way, morally and effectively, to get it. She knew what had to get done, and how to do it, whether it be something as simple as cleaning the dishes after a meal or something as complicated as coordinating a peace treaty.

So, as her youngest child, Hikaru found it his calling, birthright, and moral obligation to disagree with her a large majority of the time. Well, not exactly—moral obligation was a bit on the extreme—but he had inherited her mental strength in the same way he had inherited her dark hair, brown eyes, and her height. He was as sure of himself as she had taught him to be, and as he grew through life and began to think for himself more and more, it became increasingly difficult for them to see eye-to-eye.

A large majority of their squabbles weren’t loud or angry, usually over things small and inconsequential like how to prepare sheep—"meat was not meant to be _boiled_, mother"—or whether or not Hikaru should grow his facial hair into something substantial, an idea that she was excited about and he was adamantly against. Squabbles turned into stronger fights as Hikaru progressed into his teenage years, getting worse when Hikaru’s older sister moved into the city with her husband and newborn baby. There was usually some yelling, but there was always an apology, with either one side conceding or a compromise being reached. The house never stayed too tense for too long.

There was one topic, however, that they had never reached an agreement on. Because of this, Hikaru always tried as hard as he could to simply swallow his tongue when it was brought up. They were on opposite ends of the spectrum about the matter, but Hikaru didn’t speak out against her for fear of their relationship being shaken into something unstable. That thing was dragons.

Dragons had been a part of Hikaru’s life for it’s entirety, and not necessarily in a good way. The beasts lived somewhere across the ocean in the east, and spend nine out of the twelve months a year touching down on their edge of the mainland and doing some damage. The word ‘attack’ seemed too vicious in description, because their raids on their village were never particularly malicious, in Hikaru’s opinion. No lives had been lost in the past fifteen years due to the dragons coming, but livestock was shamelessly taken, and entire barns of grain or animals were sometimes burnt to the ground.

To Hikaru, it seemed ridiculous to stay in an area that was known for dragon activity. Sure, he loved his home; the access to open water was one of the best things about the peninsula, and the loud bustle of human activity was considerably less in this town than in the city. But the city had countless defenses to keep the dragons out, defenses that had proven incredibly effective. It would be smart to install some of those devices on the peninsula, but the sloping land and soft grass would make recreating the tall stone walls that the city had extremely difficult. They had watchtowers and cannons that were decent for warning ahead and initial defense, but that was about it. Once the dragons had landed, all the protection they had was hand-held weapons. Swords and spears and pickaxes were simply poor planning against a creature that had claws, teeth, wings longer than your body, and an internalized flame thrower.

Despite their deadly anatomy and their apparent willingness to use it against him and his neighbors, despite the need to protect everyone and the fact that yes, dragons were dangerous and quite destructive, Hikaru couldn’t just buy into the idea that dragons were mindlessly brutal killing machines, like his mother did. She was sold on the idea of them being nothing but bad news. He understood why, and he understood why most of the town was behind her on that decision--in her mind, protecting her people was her first priority, and dragons threatened that commitment. To her they weren’t fascinating, awe-inspiring animals, and trying to understand them on any level would be a waste of time. They were only life-threatening evil. But Hikaru couldn’t just succumb to that idea. They were still creatures, and all creatures were compassionate on some level, weren’t they?

Granted, it definitely did not feel that way right now, Hikaru pressed up against the wood of a barn wall with one of those winged reptilians approaching, its big eyes open wide, the three feet of space between them inching closed. Hikaru’s breath was shallow in his chest, every sense hyperaware, his heartbeat loud and panicked at the base of his throat. He couldn’t decide if it would be more dangerous to stoop and grab his sword, which lay on the ground only inches from his left foot, or to maintain eye contact.

The dragons had flown in together as the sun was setting, their silhouettes black against the reddened horizon, announcing themselves with high-pitched screeching and fire. As soon as the warning bells began chiming from the watchtowers, children were pushed into safe underground cellars and the cannons were manned, everyone else drawing out their weapons. The dragons couldn’t have been on the land for longer than a few minutes, but Hikaru had already managed to scorch his entire left shirtsleeve, tattered fabric blackened and hanging from his elbow.

Though he was minutes away from being sliced into ribbons, Hikaru still found himself admiring the grandiose animal in front of him. It was huge and magnificent, its smooth scales a mix of blue and startling white, its wide wings half-folded into its sides and shaped more like a bird’s than a bat’s. Hikaru’s lack of movement had made it pause, and he could see it slowly calming, the frill of scaled skin around its neck flatting down, muscles losing their tension. It took a small step towards Hikaru in curiosity more than malice, its icy eyes blinking.

Foolish human curiosity was spurring on a desire to touch the dragon in front of him, simply to see what it felt like, to see if it really was as smooth and powerful as it looked. He reached forward hesitantly, extending his arm slowly, not keen on losing a hand. The dragon seemed to understand his intention and maybe even more, Hikaru feeling surprised and slightly triumphant by the intelligence in its eyes. He was positive the dragon could tell Hikaru wasn’t going to hurt it, and was going to return the favor, taking another step forward and extending its neck in Hikaru’s direction. Dragons were smart, and could be gentle. He knew it.

Maybe it was the winter air, and the fact that his fingers were numb from the cold, but the dragon scales were warm to the touch, smooth and hard. The epidermis between the scales very warm, giving a little flexibility with the slight pressure Hikaru applied.

A second after Hikaru’s palm made contact with the dragon’s muzzle the creature jolted and spun, turned completely away from him. At first, Hikaru assumed he had spooked it, but the dragon hadn’t fled, and there was another dragon in front of them now, colored with dark reds and browns. He had to duck around the blue dragon to see it though, because the blue dragon’s wings were opened wide enough to shield Hikaru from view. It was strange. Was he being protected?

Apparently the arrival brought with it some communication to leave, because a few moments later the red dragon was gone, the blue dragon following into the sky without looking back, its wings spiraling air into Hikaru’s face, blowing his hair about and sending a chill up his spine. All the dragons were retreating, the sky clear within a matter of minutes, the strange, familiar calm that always occurred after an attack settling over everything.

“Body count!”

The sharp voice of the Chief rang through the masses, the silence and the stillness broken as everyone jumped into action at once. Looking around, Hikaru breathed a sigh when he didn’t see a sickeningly still body lying anywhere. Relief surged through his bones as he caught sight of his friends, alive and seemingly okay. He ran to them, wrapping one arm around each and bringing them close to his body.

“Watch the arm!” Inoo yowled, Daiki bursting into laughter as Hikaru released him and backed away, lips spilling out rushed and slightly horrified apologies. Sure enough, Inoo’s upper left arm was bleeding rather badly, the red stain making its way all the way down the fabric of his sleeve, blood on his fingers, face, and even his hair, sticking together a few of the thick black locks. Inoo was wincing, only part of his face visible through the bangs that fell over his eyes.

“Don’t worry too much.” Daiki said, still laughing a bit. “It’s not actually that bad. He just swung his sword across his body too far and hurt himself.”

That did lessen Hikaru’s concern, Inoo giving Daiki an indignant look.

“You’re not sticking to the story!” he protested, hitting Daiki’s chest with his free hand. “I took on a dragon, remember?”

Daiki just laughed some more, raising an eyebrow. The scene was sobered up considerably as Hikaru was pulled into a strong hug, causing Daiki and Inoo both to fall silent.

“Thank goodness, you’re safe.” The fierce affection could only belong to one person, Hikaru relaxing into his mother’s embrace and curling his arms around her shoulders, hugging back.

“Yeah Mom, I’m fine.”

She released him, holding him from her body at arm’s length, looking over him with the careful eyes that had been attuned to spotting any ailments or injuries over the years. “I saw you getting cornered, and I just didn’t know…”

“I’m okay, really.” Hikaru insisted, knowing that trying to squirm free would be no use. But he didn’t have to stand there long, Katsumi nodding and drawing back when she saw he was right.

“Inoo’s the one that needs help.” Hikaru added, gesturing to the two on his left.

“Inoo?” Her eyes grew instantly concerned and she turned to him. Her eyes latched immediately to the wound on his arm, the one that Hikaru was talking about. “Inoo! What happened?”

“He took on a dragon, Chief.” Daiki said with the utmost seriousness, face completely steady. Hikaru hid his snort of laughter by coughing into his hands, nodding along, and the three of them were dismissed, walking to the infirmary together. The building was long, skinny, and rather busy, as it always was after a storm of dragons flew in. There must not have been anyone in a life threatening state though, because despite how minor Inoo’s injury was, he was called over by a nurse almost immediately.

“That should be the last dragon attack of the year.” Daiki said as the nurse began bandaging Inoo’s arm. “Winter is on its way, so the dragons will start sleeping soon. We won’t see them again until the spring begins. How is it that the cold and boring winter months became my favorite?”

“Because they’re boring.” Inoo answered, wincing and hissing, the nurse not being in the least bit apologetic as she wrapped his arm a little tighter. “It’s wonderful. No more bursts of fire headed for your face, no more razor-sharp claws or piercing horns for your impending impalement…”

“Oh come on. No one has ever been impaled.” Hikaru countered, cutting off Inoo’s over-dramatic lamenting. Daiki raised an eyebrow at him under his raggedly cut bangs.

“Are you sure?” he asked. The question made Hikaru doubt himself.

“I don’t think it’s happened.” Hikaru wasn’t sure, but people being shish-kabobbed didn’t sound like anything he had heard of before.

“That’s what I would do if I were a dragon.” Daiki said. “Just put my head down and run.”

Inoo made a face at that, Hikaru laughing, the nurse saying they could go. Now sufficiently patched up, he hopped down from the bed he was on, the three of them making their way to the exit. When Daiki opened the door, the three of them came face to face with a worried Takaki Yuya.

“Takaki!” Daiki exclaimed. As the son of the head doctor for their village, it wasn’t strange to see Takaki in the infirmary. He appeared to be on a mission though, strolling through the door with a purpose. He gave them a small smile in greeting, stopping when Daiki asked him a question.

“Did you accidentally hurt yourself, like Inoo did?”

“I took on a dragon.” Inoo insisted. That made Takaki laugh, and he shook his head.

“It’s not me, it’s Yabu. He actually did take on a dragon, like the idiot he is.”

“Wait, are you serious?” Hikaru asked.

“Yeah, he ran after one that was trying to steal Yamashita’s pigs. The pig is still gone, and so is a little piece of his shoulder. It’s not that bad though,” he added quickly, seeing their worried expressions. “He’s being taken care of at his house already, so I’m just grabbing some more stuff.”

Then he continued on his way. The three of them did the same, stepping out into the dusk.

“Should we go visit him? You know, to see if he’s okay?” Hikaru asked. He wanted to, but his friends weren’t as enthusiastic.

“Maybe.” Inoo shrugged with one shoulder. “Not right now at least, because there are probably a bunch of people there already. Besides, we don’t really know him that well.”

That was true. Hikaru had only spoken to Yabu a handful of times, despite him being a mutual friend.

“Plus, Takaki didn’t seem that worried, so he’s probably fine.” Daiki concluded. “If you really want to, we could stop by tomorrow, or something.”

Yabu and his family were relatively new to the town, only arriving eight months prior. His father was a doctor, and people with medical training were in much higher demand on the peninsula than in the city, which was the reason for their moving. They were all friendly and already had combat training, causing them to fit in rather instantaneously. Though the conversations Hikaru had had with him were few and far between, there was something about him that Hikaru liked, though he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. Yabu seemed to be doing well and had a good friend in Takaki Yuya, so Hikaru’s curiosity had stayed just that, and no large effort had been made to befriend him.


	2. Chapter 2

They didn’t get the chance to visit Yabu the next day because he came to visit them instead, walking into Daiki’s parents’ armory with Takaki. Daiki, Hikaru, and Inoo were spending the day there, manning the store while Daiki’s parents helped with cleaning up the wreckage that had accumulated after the visitation they had received yesterday. Helping out and generally spending time in the armory was commonplace for them, Hikaru leaning against the scythe stand and trying to say something about sword hilts, glaring every time Inoo made a dirty joke.

“There is nothing funny about sword anatomy--”

“One new sword please!” Yabu’s voice rang in, cutting Hikaru off as he and Takaki walked through the doorway.

“Are you sure you should be up and walking?” Hikaru asked as the two came to a stop in front of them. “I thought you were injured.”

Though Yabu had a large and fluffy coat on, it was evident that the bandages he had peeking over his collar were covering a larger part of his torso and back, as well as his right shoulder.

“It’s nothing, really.” Yabu answered. “Just a scratch.”

Takaki was rolling his eyes in the background, making Hikaru ask again.

“Are you sure?”

Yabu sent him a grin. “Positive.” He affirmed.

“How did it happen?” Inoo asked, jerking his thumb in Hikaru’s direction. “This guy got all worried.”

Yabu laughed at that, Hikaru kicking the bottom of Inoo’s foot as the five of them made their way to the sheathed swords in the back, making him stumble and mutter curses at Hikaru under his breath. Yabu answered Inoo’s question, enthusiastic about his tale.

“There was this green dragon making its way on to the Yamashitas’ farm--a little, skinny thing--so I ran after it. It didn’t attack me at all though, not really. After I actually caught its attention it mostly did a lot of dodging my attacks, and when I finally got a clear slash at it, it knocked my sword away, nicking my shoulder with its claw in the process. When it saw I was injured, it almost looked surprised. Kind of stopped and stared at me. Then it just took the pig and flew off. I’m glad it didn’t just kill me or something, but now my sword is at the bottom of the sea somewhere.”

“That happened to me too!” Hikaru exclaimed, the surprising show of benevolence from a dragon sounding familiar. “I mean, no pigs, but a dragon let me touch it yesterday.”

His statement was met with a round of confused, blank looks, so Hikaru figured he should explain. “During yesterday’s attack, my sword was on the ground and I was cornered and pretty sure I was dead meat, but then the dragon calmed and stepped towards me, and… I touched its nose.”

Yabu’s eyebrows were raised, his expression suggesting that he couldn’t tell whether to deem him stupid or impressive. Hikaru hadn’t yet told Daiki or Inoo about this misadventure, getting shocked looks. Takaki however, was the most surprised.

“How do you still have both of your hands right now?” he asked, both looking and sounding baffled. Hikaru shrugged.

“It could tell I wasn’t going to hurt it, so it didn’t try to hurt me either. Their scales are really smooth, by the way. And they’re extremely warm. That probably has to do with their ability to breathe fire, or something.”

Takaki was still caught up on his first sentence, eyes narrowed.

“It was a dragon.” He deadpanned.

“So?”

“A dragon.”

“Yes, you’ve said that twice now.” Inoo cut in.

“They’re not bad creatures.” Hikaru said, chest puffing up internally as he saw Yabu nodding along with his words. His friends knew the strange opinions he had about dragons, but it was nice to have someone new agreeing with him.

“They’re animals.” Takaki answered, the word calm in tone and volume but loaded with negative connotations.

“But they’re not aggressive and malicious, just instinctive.” Hikaru responded. He could see Inoo mouthing his words out of the corner of his eye as he said them, so he hit the back of Inoo’s knee with his own, making him stumble again as his leg bent under him.

“Either way,” Inoo said once he had regained his footing and cleared his throat, shooting Hikaru a look that made both Yabu and Daiki laugh “We won’t be seeing them until the snow melts, and that’s all I care about.”

Just like his friends--and the majority of the townspeople, to be honest--winter was Hikaru’s favorite season as well, and not only because of the lack of dragons. The beginning of the season brought a huge festival with it, where everyone gathered around fires and told stories, curled up in their thickest coats and staying awake until the moon went down and the sun came up, as a way to ring in the coming snow and hope for a calm winter. For Hikaru, the event usually ended with overtired giggling from his friends, interesting lore being told by elders, and at least one child asleep in his lap. Everyone was comfortable and relaxed and left their weapons at home, the entire event filled with a sense of unity and security that Hikaru always loved. Unfortunately, this time their lack of defenses proved almost deadly.

Yabu saw the dragons first. He and Takaki were slowly being more and more integrated into Hikaru’s close circle of friends, walking up to them at sundown the night of the festival to chat. Hikaru had managed to sit next to him, wanting to engage him in conversation when his eyes widened, looking above his head and past him, pointing into the sky.

“It’s… They’re…”

“What?” Hikaru followed Yabu’s finger with his eyes, hearing Takaki curse next to him. Hikaru’s legs felt frozen, a gross mix of fear, confusion, and disbelief pumping through his veins.

It was dragons. A huge hoard of them, all flying in their direction, their humongous silhouettes black against the fiery sunset.

“Aren’t they supposed to be asleep?” Takaki shouted. Inoo just stood still, watching.

“Come on!” Daiki gathered his wits together first, grabbing Hikaru’s arm tightly in one hand and Inoo’s wrist in the other. Hikaru barely had time to snatch Yabu’s hand in his own before they were all dragged into the armory. Daiki yanked the door open, slamming it closed just as familiar reptilian screeches began cutting the air.

“I hate this.” Inoo was saying, muttering to himself, but loud enough to hear. “I hate this. I hate fighting, I hate dragons, I hate--” Daiki handed him one of the weapons that was closest, which only increased his grumbling. “I hate axes, I hate…”

“Oh, quit it.” Takaki said, clapping Inoo on the back hard enough to tip him over a little. “No one here is allowed to complain but me.”

In spite of everything, Hikaru heard Yabu laugh at Takaki statement from somewhere on his left. Hikaru grabbed his own swords, which he had left in the armory overnight for sharpening, and strapped them to his back.

“Hurry. We need to get back out there.”

Once Yabu found a weapon that fit his grip--something long, hooked, and sharp--they were out of the door and into the fray. There was plenty of frantic running about, which was perplexing and rather unsettling. Only half of the dragons that had descended were actually close enough to come into contact with anyone though; the other half seemed to be actively avoiding human contact, skirting around and behind houses.

Hikaru didn’t try to engage any of the beasts, instead working to help get people into safer places. He scooped up a crying girl with pigtails, trying to comfort her as she squirmed in his arms, taking her into a bunker. By the time all the little ones were stored away, Hikaru had completely lost sight of his friends. Picking up his feet, he decided to go find them.

There was so much yelling and running that it was difficult to get anywhere, not that he really knew where he was going. He helped with a sword stroke or two as he went, ducking around and trying to look over people’s heads. It would be near hopeless to find Daiki, seeing as the stocky brunette was much shorter than he was, but Inoo, Takaki, and Yabu were all around his height, so he kept his eyes open.

He had managed to reach the other end of the town square without seeing any of them, feeling rather hopeless, when he ran quite hard into something solid and fell to the ground.

“Can’t you watch where you’re going?”

Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief. It was Yabu’s voice and he was happy to hear it, despite how annoyed he sounded. He was on the ground a few feet away, and he realized they had knocked into each other. Honestly, it was so comical, taking place in the middle of a battle like this, that Hikaru almost laughed. Until he saw a green and gray dragon that seemed nearly as big as their entire town itself flying straight at them, sharp mouth opening mechanically, red-hot embers already burning in its throat.

Yabu let out a loud burst of nonsense, running over to Hikaru and tugging him up by his shoulder. Hikaru nearly felt like sitting down again--not only were his legs about to fail him, but he knew that they wouldn’t be able to move fast enough to get out of the line of fire. He would be burnt to a crisp, his mother would find a little pile of ashes, arranged by the wind to spell out his name--

“For the love of all that is holy, come on!”

Yabu had to yell in his ear to bring him back to his senses, and the dragon was so impossibly close that by now, running truly was futile but he did it anyway, chest tightening with adrenaline, feet pounding the ground in such rapid succession that after a few moments it felt as though he wasn’t even making contact with the dirt below at all.

The sensation was so strange that he looked down, shouting in surprise, his entire body freezing. The ground below was passing under him at an impossible rate, growing smaller and farther away. The compression in his chest wasn’t adrenaline at all, but the very real feeling of the sword straps that went across his torso being tugged, hoisting him into the air.

Yabu was still next to him, letting out a short, high-pitched noise, Hikaru finally able to get a full grasp on the situation when he saw dragon talons clenched around his skinny body, holding him in a safe but firm grip. He looked up, letting his mouth gape open. The dragon’s colors were difficult to make out against the setting sun, but the muzzle and the wing shape were painfully familiar. This was the blue dragon that Hikaru had met in the previous attack. This dragon had saved their lives.

“Put me down!” Yabu shouted, squirming enough to pull his weapon from its sheath. He lifted his arm, about to strike the foot holding him when Hikaru shouted for him to stop. He gave Hikaru a look that suggested he was out of his mind, so he explained.

“If we get dropped, we’ll die.”

They had left land, now soaring over deep, near-freezing water.

“We’re going to die anyway!” He shouted back. His eyes were blown wide in poorly suppressed panic. Hikaru shook his head, wanting more than anything to calm him.

“No, we’re not. I know this dragon.”

“Do you know that dragon?” Yabu asked, pointing.

“What?”

Sure enough, another dragon had soared up to meet them, lightly knocking the flat of its nose against the face of the one carrying them. It was an affectionate gesture, Hikaru could tell, and it would have been sweet if Hikaru hadn’t noticed that the new dragon was bleeding, rather profusely, from one of its shoulders. It was holding two dead sheep in each of its back talons, and after the greeting the dragons continued, knowing where they were headed.

“Where do you think we’re going?” Yabu asked. Thankfully, his voice had calmed, at least a little. Honestly Hikaru had no idea, because they were headed west, and every time the dragons arrived they came from the opposite direction. He hoped that meant they weren’t headed to any sort of home, or lair. Wherever they were going, Hikaru hoped they would get there soon. The ache in his shoulders and back was becoming too painful to ignore.

They climbed past the clouds, wind cutting into Hikaru’s cheeks, when the dragons finally came to a stop. They had reached the mouth of a very high cave. The blue dragon let Yabu and Hikaru down lightly, flapping its wings a few times to keep itself up for a moment before landing. The second, newer dragon’s landing was more of a collapse; flying must have been rather painful on its shoulder.

The two dragons didn’t give the two of them any notice, immediately retreating deep into the cave. Hikaru and Yabu just stood where they had been deposited, staring at each other for a few moments. Hikaru peered over the lip of the cliff. They were so high up that the wind was incredibly cold, and the sea below was dizzyingly far away.

“What should we do now?” Yabu asked, pulling his coat tighter around himself. “Do you think they’re going to eat us?”

After a moment of serious consideration--because honestly, that was a very real possibility--Hikaru shook his head.

“I don’t think so. That blue dragon is the same one that let me touch it a few weeks ago. It saved our lives back there, pulling us away from that bigger dragon like that. I’m not sure why it brought us all the way here, but I think that it means that we’ll be okay.”

“Just because it let you pet it doesn’t mean it didn’t think you looked tasty.” Yabu countered, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Besides, even if it doesn’t eat us, we could starve, or freeze to death up here. We can’t jump down or anything, and trying to climb would be crazy.”

As soon as Yabu finished saying this, the blue dragon emerged, carrying a piece of meat lightly in its teeth. Both of them froze, watching, not wanting to move a muscle. The dragon didn’t even look in their direction, simply depositing the meat on the floor and turning, going back in where it came from. It was a piece of sheep meat, ripped from one of the four that had been carried, slightly wooly and singed, but cooked through. It was for them. Hikaru was speechless.

“Okay, maybe we won’t starve.” Yabu amended. Hikaru was rather grateful that by now, the sun had almost completely gone down, because he didn’t really want to get a good look at what he was eating. He felt better after the meal but Yabu was still nervous and very tense, sitting with his arms around his knees and staring at the mainland, the stretch of ground only slightly bigger than a speck in the distance.

“We should get some sleep.” Hikaru said. “I know this is going to sound dumb, but try not to worry too much. We’ll figure it out, and then we’ll go back home.”

“You’re right.” He said, looking up and giving him a little smile. “That does sound dumb.”

Hikaru extended his hand down to him, and despite his words he took it anyway, standing. They found a little corner of the cave that was far enough in for shelter from the wind but not too close to the dragons either, and they curled up closely.

“This sucks.” Yabu declared, voice surprisingly loud in the darkness, his simple statement making Hikaru laugh.

“I’m serious!” He exclaimed, rolling on to his back, his shoulder touching Hikaru’s own. “I’m really cold, really thirsty, on a cliff that’s about a million and two miles away from any sort of land... I’ve been kidnapped by dragons, for crying out loud.”

“You sound like Inoo.” Hikaru remarked, still chuckling.

“I sound like Takaki.” Yabu countered with a sigh. Hikaru reached around, finding Yabu’s hand in the dark and taking it in his, rubbing circles on the back of it with his thumb, trying to be comforting. When Yabu fell silent he grew worried, but the apology for maybe being a little too strange died in his throat as Yabu curled his body up to him, pressing close. When Hikaru mustered enough courage to look over at him, his eyes were already closed in sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Hikaru was the first one awake. Yabu was still pressed close to his side, and his body heat was highly appreciated. Hikaru tried to get a look at his surroundings, craning his neck to look further into the cave. Sun was shining into the chasm, and the two dragons, as huge and intimidating as ever, were curled around each other. Hikaru was able to finally able to see the second dragon in proper lighting, and its colors were astounding.

All yellows and oranges and reds, the dragon looked like living, breathing fire. The bulk of its body was the lighter colors, but the ends of its legs, tail, and other points darkened into a deep red. Unlike the blue dragon this one had horns, long and slender, protruding from a place on its skull right above its ears. Its tail was curved to a point at the end, and its wings were huge in almost a disproportionate way, with hooks on the tops. The wing moved by the injured shoulder hung limply to the side, while the other was over the blue dragon’s back, serving as a shield from both the sunshine and the chilling wind. The two dragons were a sight to look at, and especially so together, the fiery colors contrasting with the icy whites and blues.

Yabu stirred, effectively breaking his train of thought.

“Good morning.” Hikaru said as soon as his eyes were open. Yabu wasn’t at all bashful about their proximity, blinking at him drowsily.

“My nose is cold.” was his response, and they laid there for a while longer, neither feeling like getting up and facing the icy wind. Finally though they did, and Hikaru decided that old, near-freezing sheep meat wasn’t truly that bad, despite getting some wool in between his teeth.

“I know what we should do today.” Yabu declared as the sat on the ledge, their legs dangling off, trying to get the sun to warm them.

“What?” Hikaru asked back, genuinely curious to hear his proposition.

“Try to find some way down from here.”

Hikaru didn’t have it in him to ask what they would do if they did manage to find a way off of the ledge and found themselves surrounded by water. Instead, he nodded.

“Sure. I bet we could find something.”

There was a loud, high-pitched screeching noise from inside the cave, making both Hikaru and Yabu jump. The sound was closest to the call of a bird, except louder and much more terrifying. They were met with the sight of the orange dragon’s mouth closing, eyes half open, seeming to be recovering from a yawn. Dragons yawned?

The noise woke the blue dragon too, Hikaru and Yabu watching as they arched their backs, stretched their legs, flapped out their wings, and shook their tails, waking themselves up. The orange dragon nudged the blue one with its face again, getting a low grumble in response.

“They’re sort of cute.” Hikaru found himself saying. Yabu raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

“What?” He asked. “They are!”

“Sure.” He answered, obviously not quite agreeing. “Come on.”

Rolling on his stomach, Yabu peered over the edge of the cliff. After watching the creatures wake themselves up for a few seconds more, Hikaru joined him, looking down for handholds or foodholds they could use to climb down. All he could truly focus on though, was the roughly crashing water below.

“There’s one!” Yabu exclaimed after some time. The craggy rock face had plenty of tiny ledges, but the one that Yabu was pointing to looked like it could be large enough to fit someone’s foot on it.

“Yeah, but there isn’t another one in that area until about twenty feet down. I’m not sure that would work out.” Hikaru answered. Yabu nodded in agreement, frowning slightly as he looked back down. After a few long moments, Hikaru became aware of something warm wisping across the back of his neck, a light snort behind them sounding incredibly close. Yabu jerked around so fast he almost teetered over the edge, letting out a shout and gripping tightly to Hikaru’s shoulder.

The orange dragon had limped over to them, now less than two feet from Hikaru’s face, eyes open and interested. It blinked and looked into the water, flattening its belly to the ground just as they had been doing, then cocked its head to the side, meeting eyes with Hikaru again.

“We’re looking for a way down.” Hikaru said, not knowing if explaining would do any good at all. “We really want to go home.”

The orange dragon got itself back to its feet, letting out a chirp from the back of its throat before padding away on large, clawed feet.

“What was that?” Yabu hissed. “Do you think it understood you?”

“I have no idea.” Hikaru answered honestly. It almost seemed like it did, but thinking that they could communicate through spoken word was a nearly ludicrous idea. After a moment of thought Yabu shrugged, and they resumed their activities.

After another half hour of looking over the edge on their stomachs, Yabu let out a sigh, rolling on to his back and puffing his cheeks out. His nose and cheeks were red from the wind, and they hadn’t managed to find any way to climb down. Despite it being his idea, Yabu did not seem very surprised by the outcome.

“I can’t believe they haven’t attacked us yet.” Yabu confessed. “There weren’t many dragon sightings where I used to live because it’s so far inside the city walls. When Takaki would tell me horror stories about dragons coasting in and burning things up, I imagined creatures much more vicious than these ones. I mean, I have seen people getting injured and stuff, but the way he would talk about dragons was really unforgiving.”

“Why did you move out to the peninsula when the city is so much safer?” Hikaru asked. Everyone knew about their dragon problem, so coming to the coast willingly seemed like a foolish idea.

“My dad is a doctor.” Yabu answered. “This place needs doctors way more than the inland places do. He couldn’t really get any work, either. Takaki’s dad and mine wrote back and forth while my dad was looking for work, and in the end he managed to convince us to move. I’m the youngest in my family, so between myself, my older brother, and my older sister, my parents figured we would be able to look after each other well enough.”

“I’m the youngest in my family too.” Hikaru said. “Well, except for my sister’s daughter, but my sister and her husband moved away when they found out she was pregnant. She didn’t want to raise her kid around dragons, which makes sense. I wouldn’t want to either.”

Yabu made a noise in agreement, and they sat for a few minutes, silence falling around them.

“Let's go inside the cave walls a little.” Hikaru proposed. “It’ll block the wind. And, I mean, you look pretty cold, so…”

“I’m perfectly fine.” Yabu said pointedly, but he was in the process of standing. “But if you’re cold, I might not object.”

Hikaru laughed. “I’m not very interested in letting my fingers fall off.” he said.

“...okay.” He sounded reluctant, not taking his eyes off the dragons as they walked into the stone mouth.

“Wow.” It was considerably warmer inside the cave, from both the absence of wind chill and their increased proximity to the living furnaces in the back corner. Hikaru rubbed his hands together, letting out a sigh.

“This was a good idea.” Yabu admitted, making Hikaru grin. They sat and talked a bit more, but time seemed to pass incredibly slowly with nothing to do. After three games of ‘Twenty Questions’ and four games of ‘I Spy’, they had effectively run out of things to do.

“Tic-Tac-Toe?” Yabu suggested, making Hikaru laugh. Being in the same space with the dragons had brought the communication idea back to Hikaru’s mind and he glanced over the blue dragon, thinking. There wasn’t anything else to do and no way to leave, so there wasn’t much harm in trying.

“Hey.” Hikaru called out. The blue dragon turned its head, making eye contact. Yabu’s eyes went wide, and he hit Hikaru on the arm.

“Can we go home?” Hikaru asked, his voice a bit louder than it probably needed to be, enunciating as clearly as he could. “We want to go home.”

The dragon simply looked at him and he looked back, refusing to break eye contact. Finally though, the dragon glanced away, and Hikaru’s hopes of communication were dashed. When he looked back at Yabu, he was wearing an expression the suggested he was doubting Hikaru’s sanity.

“It was worth a shot.” Hikaru explained with a shrug. “So, Tic-Tac-Toe?”

Yabu smiled, and their games resumed. Slowly but surely, the day came to a close, and Hikaru was asleep by the time the moon had risen into the sky. Not much time could have passed before he was being shaken awake. It was the middle of the night, if the moon’s position was anything to go by, stars winking down at him. Yabu’s eyes were wide, and the urgency with which he was trying to wake him made Hikaru jolt into a sitting position, immediately worried and awake.

“What is it?” He asked, feeling the need to keep his voice hushed.

“Listen!” Yabu whispered sharply, and HIkaru did, keeping his head still and glancing around through his peripherals. A break in the light wind allowed voices to reach his ears. Two of them, distinctly male, talking quietly to each other.

“Who… Where is it coming from?” Hikaru asked. Yabu pointed into the cave.

“There.” He said. “Do you think someone has come to rescue us?”

“I don’t know.” Hikaru whispered back. The two of them crept closer, Hikaru listening more intently. There was something in the middle of the cave letting off a warm glow, creating the silhouettes of two people sitting together, one playing the the fingers on the other’s hand. The one with his hand being held was a tall, lanky male, and the other was shorter but not by much, his shoulders broader. They were sitting crosslegged in front of an oil lamp, backs to Hikaru and Yabu, and the thinner one’s shirt had been discarded, his right shoulder a mess of scabbing and dried blood. Who were they?

“They want to go home.” The injured one was saying. “We really should take them back soon.”

Hikaru took in a sharp breath as he realized--they are talking about us. Yabu seemed to understand that at the same time Hikaru did, grabbing Hikaru’s upper arm tightly.

“But you can’t go anywhere, and I can’t just leave one of them with you.” Was the response. “What if they hurt you? What if--”

“I can defend myself, Keito.”

Hikaru wanted to listen longer, wanting to figure out what was actually going on and if everything was safe before they made their presence known--because somehow these strangers weren’t strangers at all--but Yabu had a different idea.

“Excuse me--” He spoke up, his words making the two jump terribly and turn, the one that had been called Keito shifting quickly in front of his injured companion. Their reactions surprised Yabu into a temporary silence, but then he continued.

“Are you here to help us? We were taken here by dragons, and we want to go home.”

He spoke slowly, but even so they just sat there, staring back. Hikaru was concerned by the look in Keito’s eyes--slightly threatened and extremely unsure. He decided to speak up.

“You were talking about us just now, weren’t you?”

His only response was Keito’s gaze being shifted from Yabu to himself. He decided to try another question.

“Who are you?”

This question seemed to be a more comfortable one, the taller man’s shoulders relaxing as he placed a hand on Keito’s shoulder. He slid a reassuring touch down his arm before finding his hand, holding it.

“I’m Nakajima Yuto, and this is Okamoto Keito.”

“How did you two get up here?” Yabu asked.

“Well…” Yuto shared a look with Keito before answering, as though asking permission for what he was about to say. He didn’t give any indication of agreement that Hikaru could tell, but Yuto continued anyway. “We’re the ones that brought you here. We’re sorry.”

Hikaru’s initial reaction was confusion, and it stayed.

“...what?”

“Keito and I, um…” Yuto glanced at Keito again, who this time gave the slightest of shrugs. “We’re the dragons that brought you here.”

Hikaru’s second reaction was that this was some kind of terrible joke. Yabu seemed to agree, chuckling slightly. The laugh didn’t hold much humor in it though.

“The thing about that is that you two aren’t dragons. You’re people. You’re…”

Yuto and Keito weren’t laughing, Yabu trailing off.

“You’re not joking.”

Two simultaneous head shakes.

“How--”

“We can shapeshift.”

The words tumbled out of Keito’s mouth rapidly, clumsily, and he flushed, clamming up as soon as he had spoken. Yuto gave a bit of a half-smile at that, but his eyes were watchful, carefully gauging Hikaru and Yabu’s reactions. Not that there was much to watch; they both just stood there, Hikaru able to feel his brain fall into a state of disbelief.

The Nakajima Yuto one had an ugly injury on his right shoulder, in the same place that the orange dragon had been injured, on the same side and in the same way. That would make Okamoto Keito the blue one, but--

“That’s impossible.” Yabu declared, taking a seat on the cave floor. “You’re dragons. You’ve always been dragons.”

“Should I…?” Yuto began, turning to Keito, unable to finish his question by the way Keito shook his head.

“You’re hurt. I’ll do it.”

It wasn’t until Keito was giving himself a rather wide girth from everyone else that Hikaru realized that was about to happen. He was going to give a demonstration. Keito turned his back and undressed quickly, then stood very still. In the moonlight his bones began to shift under his skin, growing and stretching and jutting out strangely, the joints and muscles displacing themselves. The tan hue to his skin was replaced by the cerulean color that Hikaru was coming to recognize, and while the change was hard to watch Hikaru kept his eyes open. Within moments, the blue and white dragon was dwarfing them in his moonlit shadow. Yuto was beaming up at him, and Yabu’s eyes were so wide that for an instant Hikaru was worried that they just might pop out.

“You’re magnificent!” Yuto called, and Keito let out a little rumble in response.

“Can dragons understand us?” Hikaru had to ask.

“Please, stop saying ‘us’ like we’re not included.” Yuto answered, not sounding angry, but very firm.

“Sorry.”

Yabu turned to Hikaru. “Pinch me.” He requested. That made Yuto laugh a little, Hikaru shaking his head, Keito’s giant form shrinking down behind them.

“I’m not going to pinch you.” Hikaru said, but without hesitation Yabu just pinched himself on the arm, letting out a yelp. Keito was back, and his eyes held a scared, unsure look.

“Believe us yet?” Yuto asked.

“I… I guess so.” Hikaru answered. As impossible as it seemed, they had just seen the transformation with their own eyes, and they weren’t dreaming, so what else were they supposed to assume? “Are all dragons also…?"

“Are all dragons people too?" Yuto asked. "Yeah."

"Why haven't you told anyone?"

“Well… We didn’t want to tell the two of you because we weren’t sure how you would react. Neither of you are swinging your weapons at us, so your reactions are better than we had hoped.”

Hikaru’s mind was swimming with possibilities. If only he had known. If only he had known everyone could just communicate with each other, there the a possibility that they could settle their differences, and end all of the attacks and fighting… Dragons could not be seen as monsters anymore. Hikaru decided to take his idea and run with it.

“If we all knew, then we could communicate, and work out everything, and move past--”

“If I remember the stories correctly, it was your family that cast us out, remember?”

That made Hikaru falter for a moment. Yuto was right; as the lore put it, Hikaru’s lineage and another family had gotten into a deadly argument, and when Hikaru’s side had won, the other line and their followers had been exiled from the mainland. Was this whole transformation business what the argument had been about? That part of the story was never shared.

“Let’s talk about major cultural shifts in the morning, okay?” Yuto sighed. “Is there anything else you’re curious about?”

Hikaru had gotten rather excited, wanting to talk about this here and now, but he heeded Yuto’s request, closing his mouth. Yabu though, had something that he wanted to know.

“Why haven’t you taken us home yet?”

Yuto turned to Keito for him to answer, and he sounded rather apologetic as he did.

“I was panicking when I brought you two here, and I’m sorry about that… I wanted to bring you back home as soon as possible, but it would be hard to be careful with the both of you, and I didn’t want to leave one of you here along with Yuto because he’s injured and could get hurt, and…”

The longer he talked the quicker his words were so he stopped himself, falling silent.

“Were you going to keep us here forever?”

“No.” Keito replaced his hand in Yuto’s, a small and self-comforting gesture. He was nervous. “Yuto is healing slowly, so I was going to fetch some friends of mine to help. I was planning on going out tonight, while you two were sleeping, but…”

But that plan had been completely shot to pieces, and Hikaru almost felt apologetic, because the concern for Yuto in Keito’s eyes so real and so strong.

“You still can go, if you want. We won’t hurt him. I promise.”

Hikaru could tell that Keito didn’t believe him, and Hikaru couldn’t really blame him for that. The moon had made its way quite far across the sky, and Yuto sighed, laying his head heavily on Keito’s shoulder.

“Let’s make promises and talk and everything when the sun comes up, please?”

He was exhausted, understandably so, and they all agreed to go to sleep, though Hikaru wasn’t sure if his brain would let him. This was completely incredible. The dragons could transform. Into people.

They all took separate places on the floor of the cave, closer than they had been before, and Yabu wriggled for quite a while before deciding he was comfortable. Keito and Yuto hadn’t laid down yet, their silhouettes standing still and speaking in hushed, concerned voices. Keito’s face was full of worry, and Hikaru caught sight of Yuto pulling Keito in for a quick kiss before he closed his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Their late staying up caused a late rising as well, the sun already high in the sky when Hikaru opened his eyes. The dragons weren’t in their reptilian form, instead sitting cross-legged and picking at a roasted sheep. The sight of the almost strangers brought everything from the night before flooding back. Hikaru shook Yabu gently awake, and after his third face-poking did he finally stir.

“I had this dream about…” Yabu’s voice was slow with sleep, cutting himself off when he saw Keito and Yuto sitting together. “Or it wasn’t a dream.”

Hikaru laughed. “C’mon. Let’s eat.”

They got smiles from both Yuto and Keito as they approached.

“Good morning!” Yuto declared happily, making Hikaru smile back.

“Good morning.” He and Yabu both gave greetings, the four of them making slightly awkward and rather irrelevant small talk as they ate breakfast. When they reached a lull in conversation, Keito opened his mouth.

“I’ve decided I’m going to leave and get help.” He said. Hikaru understood the full implications of his decision, and he was surprised. Keito was going to leave, and he and Yabu were being trusted not to hurt someone that he cared for quite a lot.

“However… I’m going to have to either take your weapons with me, or have you drop them into the water before I go.”

Well, not entirely trusted. Hikaru could understand him though, so he nodded.

“Okay. We understand.”

Completely losing their weapons to the sea below was an option neither of them really wanted, so once Keito had his wings and a breath of fire, they handed their weapons off. He grabbed them from their hands, and with a wave of his wings he was into the air, the three of them watching as he flew up and out of sight.

What Hikaru hadn’t anticipated was how awkward it would be with just himself, Yabu, and Yuto alone, the young man sitting at the edge of the precipice and humming to himself.

“I have another question.” Yabu said, breaking the slowly forming silence. Yuto turned happily, eager to answer.

“Yeah?”

“Well… Aren’t you guys all supposed to be sleeping? Dragons usually sleep through the winter, don’t they?”

That was a good question. Winter was completely upon them now; as far as they knew, the dragons would always curl up in their dens and sleep through the cold months. At least, that’s what Hikaru had been told.

“We usually do.” Yuto agreed. Then he shrugged, his next statement coming off much more lighthearted than it actually was. “We just weren’t able to find enough food to last us all the way through the winter this year.”

“Oh.”

That made Hikaru wonder more about where the dragons lived. It was a land somewhere in the east, not visible from the shores of his home, and all he knew was that it was a rather terrible place. He had assumed it was terrible simply because it housed a clan of dragons--could it not sustain life well?

“Is that why you guys attack our land so often?”

The question came out much more negatively than he had meant it, making him clamp his mouth tightly and offer Yuto an apologetic look. Yuto waved it off.

“Yeah, if that’s how you want to put it. Our rocky piece of land is no good for actually living on.” He explained. “We can’t really grow crops, and there’s barely enough room for livestock. Most of the area is just little dens like this one where everyone lives and stores whatever treasures they’ve collected. We’re just a bunch of hoarders. Am I talking too much?”

Hikaru shook his head. He was fascinated by everything coming out of Yuto’s mouth, and he wanted to know more. “Hoarders?” he asked.

“Dragons are notorious collectors. I’m not sure why.” Yuto made a little contemplative face. “It’s just… You see something, and you know you have to have it. Most of us have stashes of jewels or gold hidden away--you know, the usual sparkly stuff--but I collect glass. Glass is incredible, it can change the color of light, and when it’s bent and you look through it…” Yuto trailed off, as though realizing he was straying off topic. “My collection is pretty important to me. That’s how most of the dragons feel.”

“Have dragons always been able to turn into people?” Yabu asked. Yuto made another face, twisting his lips into a look of contemplation.

“We were people first, I think.” He responded. “I’m only a fourth generation dragon, so…” he counted on his fingers. “My great grandparents were just human.”

“Then how are you able to transform?”

“No idea, honestly.” Yuto let out a laugh. “The story we are told is that, when exiled, our leader Masahiko became so angry that he turned himself into the creature most feared by his enemy, but we all know that isn’t true. And if it is, I’m grateful he wasn’t afraid of moths, or something.”

That made both Hikaru and Yabu laugh. Hikaru would never have guessed that the actual existence of dragons was such a new development, but he figured that they had been in his life so regularly that it was difficult to imagine a world without them.

“Am I talking too much yet?” Yuto asked again, and to that Hikaru again shook his head.

“Are we asking too many questions?” Yabu asked back.

“Nope.” Yuto smiled. “All I’ve been able to do is rumble and snort for the past two days, so this is nice.”

“I, actually…” Hikaru didn’t really realize how awkward his question was until it was halfway out of his mouth. “I was wondering about you and Keito.”

Yuto didn’t shy away or clam up, which was what Hikaru expected; there wasn’t a trace of embarrassment anywhere in the smile lighting up his face as he answered.

“I love him.”

However, that was all he had time to say before a slapping sound and a triumphant yell rang out from behind them. Hikaru recognized the voice, but he was completely unable to believe who his brain thought the voice belonged to. There was an arm in sight, gripping tightly to the cliff’s edge. Soon, a head, torso, and legs finally pulled themselves up, and the stocky body collapsed.

“Daiki?!”

Hikaru ran to his friend, completely bewildered by his appearance. How had he gotten here? “Did you just… Climb all the way up?”

Daiki rolled on to his back, exhausted but smiling when his eyes found Hikaru’s.

“Hey.” he said in greeting, sitting up slowly. “You’re alive, thank god.”

Sinking to his knees, overwhelmed with relief upon seeing Daiki, Hikaru pulled him into a fierce hug. Daiki squeezed just as hard back, a shout traveling up to them a few seconds later.

“If you don’t throw that rope down now, my arms are going to fall off.”

“Inoo?”

Hikaru looked over the edge to see a tiny boat at the very bottom of the steep rock face. Takaki was standing in it and had his arms extended, as though ready to catch Inoo. Inoo himself wasn’t very close to the top at all, looking up with gritted teeth.

“Wait, really?” Yabu ran up next to Hikaru, smiling and waving and shouting down.

“Yabu!” Takaki called, waving back.

“Rope!” Inoo yelled. Daiki had a rope--the one Inoo was yelling for, Hikaru assumed--tied around his waist, and he scrabbled with it, untying it and taking it off. He handed some of it to each of them, and once they all had a firm grip, he threw the rest of it down.

“Got it?”

A few moments of silence, then the answer to Daiki’s question.

“Yeah!”

“Pull!”

They did, Yuto latching on behind Hikaru to help. It wasn’t very difficult with four people all tugging, and before long Inoo was yanked into view. They repeated the process again for Takaki, and before too long they were all standing around, sharing hugs and disbelieving exclamations.

“What are you guys doing here?” Yabu asked, one arm around Takaki’s shoulders. “How did you find us?”

“Well, when we saw you guys getting carried off a few days ago, we decided that if we didn’t go look for you, who would?” Daiki said with a smile. Inoo was rubbing his arms, wincing and giving Hikaru a look.

“Seriously Hikaru, you’re lucky I love you enough to save your sorry ass all the time--”

“You didn’t even help with rowing!” Takaki exclaimed at him.

“Anyway,” Daiki continued loudly. “We had been coasting around offshore when we saw that blue dragon that snagged you flying away from this island. We figured if there was something up here, we could at least bring your skeletons back home.”

That was a grim thought.

“Everyone is worried about you guys.” Takaki said. “Hikaru, your mom is a bit of a mess.”

“Oh.” Hikaru felt terribly guilty. “We’ve been perfectly fine up here.”

“Well, we’ve been a little cold and thirsty, but otherwise fine.” Yabu corrected.

“How--”

Whatever Takaki was going to say was cut off by Inoo’s question.

“Who’s this?”

He pointed at Yuto, just now noticing him, surprise completely unrestrained. Yuto smiled and gave a small wave, expression a little nervous.

“I’m Nakajima Yuto.”

The three stared, waiting for more information.

“I--Well, it’s…” He trailed off for a moment, not sure what to say or how to explain. “I’m a--”

“He’s here with us. He’s injured.” Hikaru said quickly, diverting attention away from Yuto and back on to himself. The truth about dragons and the fact that Yuto was one definitely needed to be addressed, especially before Keito came back, but Hikaru was completely clueless on how to go about it. He glanced at Yabu, who understood and gave him a tiny nod. He had an idea.

“Hey, so don’t freak out, but--”

He had barely managed to catch their attention before four huge dragons landed on the cliff’s edge in a clattering of talons and wings. Daiki let out a loud yell of surprise, jumping back; none of them had seen the dragons approaching, too caught up in finally seeing each other again. Takaki drew his sword out but then faltered because really, what was one sword going to do? The dragons took no notice, bypassing their existences entirely, and Yuto jogged to catch up with them, heading into the cave. There were three new dragons, and they all looked drastically different: one of them had a similar build to Keito himself, but the coloring was of blended purples and pinks, spine topped with spikes, reminding Hikaru of a flower with thorns. The second dragon was thin and solid green, its legs spaced far apart on its long body. It had a fanning tail and horns, and was rather small--though it may have just looked that way because the dragon behind it was huge, red and brown and absolutely volcanic. Hikaru recognized that dragon. It was the one that Keito had protected Hikaru from the very first time they had interacted.

“Is he crazy?” Inoo hissed, standing completely still, watching Yuto’s disappearing back. “What is he doing? They’re going to spit-roast him!”

Keito, Yuto, and two of the dragons went deep under the rock overhang, the large red and brown one sitting in front of the opening and spreading his wings so that the five of them couldn’t pass into the cave, even if they wanted to. It didn’t move once assuming that position, staring into the ocean and not paying them any attention.

“Why aren’t we doing anything?” Takaki asked. “We can’t just stand here and let those dragons eat him.”

“They’re not going to eat him.” Hikaru said. “Listen, we need to explain something.” He had no idea how to say what he needed to without sounding crazy--because honestly, it was completely insane--so he decided to be frank. “Dragons are okay. Yuto is a dragon. They can shape shift, and turn from dragons to people.”

He got blinks and deafening silence in response. Finally, eyeing him suspiciously, Inoo put his palm to Hikaru’s forehead, as though checking for fever.

“How long has it been since you’ve eaten?” he asked. “Are you sick? Dizzy?”

“He’s telling the truth.” Yabu said. “I know it sounds weird, and we were surprised too, but…”

There was a deep bouncing grumble coming from where the dragon was sitting, and when Hikaru looked at it, there was something that could only be described as amusement on its features.

“Could you give a demonstration, or something?” He asked. Inoo hit Hikaru in the chest.

“Don’t provoke him!”

“I do want to believe you guys, don’t get me wrong, but…” Daiki shared a hesitant look with the group. “You do realize how insane you sound, right?”

“We know, we know.” Yabu said quickly. “But their skin and bones just… And then its…” He gestured vaguely, unable to think of a way to explain. “And then bam. Dragon.”

“There isn’t a bam.” Hikaru felt the need to add. Takaki looked about ready to share a rather unkind part of his mind when a young man, unfamiliar to all of them, peeked out from the dragon’s right wing and began walking over. Despite the long brown pants and a white knit shirt he was wearing, it was obvious in everything from his physical appearance to the way he carried himself that he possessed an extreme strength. Wind-tousled hair framed his symmetrical face, dark and parted to the right.

“Who’s…” Daiki sounded a bit starstruck as he spoke.

“Where did he just come from?” Takaki asked, and Hikaru couldn’t do anything but shrug.

“Hello, I’m Yamada Ryosuke, and from what I understand only some of you actually know what’s going on.” He was brief and to the point, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Slow, synchronized nodding came from Inoo, Daiki, and Takaki.

“Great. Have these two told you anything?”

“Only a weird thing about shape shifting dragons or something, which is completely--”

“That’s correct.” Yamada cut Takaki off.

“But--”

Another stranger emerged, small in build and stature, shorter than Yamada was. He was followed out by Keito and Yuto, Keito now in his human form and Yuto sporting a great deal of bandages wrapped around his upper arm and shoulder blade.

“Okay seriously, where are these people coming from?” Inoo asked, sounding slightly frustrated. Then the red dragon shrunk down, folding in on itself, the red scales turning pink and smooth and fleshy. Once he was both completely human and completely dressed he jogged up to the group that was standing in front of Hikaru and his friends, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. Glancing back, Hikaru saw astonishment, shock, and even a bit of fear in the eyes of the newcomers.


	5. Chapter 5

The short man standing next to Yuto was grinning, and the newly transformed dragon put an arm around his shoulders.

“Hikaru… Who are all these people?” Keito asked quietly. He was apprehensive, and understandably so; he had only meant to leave Yuto with the two of them.

“These are our friends, they came looking for us.” Hikaru answered. He then gestured to Inoo for him to introduce himself. The friend in question was opening, then closing, then opening his mouth.

“You were a dragon and now you’re... Not.” He finally said. The red dragon chuckled once.

“How eloquent.” he remarked.

“Well, that’s Inoo Kei.” Hikaru said, deciding to do his friends’ introductions for them. “The short one over here is Arioka Daiki, and that’s Takaki Yuya.”

Daiki’s complete lack of reaction to the height comment--something he proved to be touchy about time and time again--was a testament to just how in shock the transformation demonstration had left him.

“I’m Chi-” The one that hadn’t introduced himself yet--the little one with the black bob cut--tried to speak, interrupted.

“That guy used to be a dragon, and now he’s not.” It was Inoo again. “How--”

“Black magic.” The red dragon was still amused. “I--we--just can.”

“You can just turn into dragons?” Takaki asked. Nods.

“And then back into people?”

More nods.

“You people are dragons?”

“I might just rip my hair out.” The tiny one sighed. “I’m Chinen Yuri, and I can turn into a dragon. This is Morimoto Ryutato, and he can turn into a dragon. Okamoto Keito? Dragon. Yamada? Yuto? Dragons.”

As Daiki, Inoo, and Takaki let their minds reel, Hikaru focused on the names he had just been given. Ryutaro was the large dragon, and Chinen was probably the little green one, making Yamada the purple one. Red, green, purple, orange, and blue. He wondered if the colors meant anything.

“Keito picked us up and took us here during the last attack.” Yabu continued. “He probably saved our lives, actually. He just hasn’t had the chance to take us home yet.”

“Pinch me.” Inoo requested. Hikaru sighed, complying to his friend’s invitation, leaving Inoo cursing and jumping up and down. He and the two others were having a difficult time wrapping their heads around the concept, and Hikaru didn’t blame them, honestly. They asked a lot of the same questions he and Yabu had, all the “How?”s and “Seriously?”s and “But wait…”s, usually asking the same thing over and over until they could consider it possible.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Inoo asked hopelessly. “It’s winter.” He sounded completely lied to, his favorite season now turned on its head.

“We actually couldn’t get enough food to last all throughout the season.” Chinen said. He seemed to have given himself the role of question-answerer. “Our last attempt yielded enough for most people to start sleeping--the elders and the children went first, but almost everyone is asleep now--and the dragons in their ‘prime’, the younger dragons like us, have to find a way to sustain ourselves.”

“You don’t have food at home?” Daiki asked.

“It’s a small, volcanic island. Most of the area is barren and overcrowded. We barely have any of our own resources.”

“Has the volcano ever erupted?”

The slightly off-topic question was tolerated. “Not since we’ve been on it.”

The sun was sinking low into the sea, last rays of light ready to disappear. Hikaru realized at about the same time everyone else did that they wouldn’t be able to return home safely on the little boat the rescue team had brought if they couldn’t see where they were going.

“Are we camping out here then?” Yabu asked.

“I think we'll have to." Hikaru answered, his assessment being met with groans of complaint.

“It’s not that terrible.” Yabu defended. Both Takaki and Inoo gave him unamused looks.

“Okay, it's kind of terrible, but c’mon. You'll live.”

Inoo didn’t seem very sure about that as they picked out a place in the cave to spend the night. The dragons turned into reptiles in the darkness, keeping to themselves. The groups stayed much farther away from each other than Hikaru and Yabu usually were from Keito and Yuto, despite the fact that now there was less space.

“So?” Yabu asked as they laid down for the night.

“So what?”

“So what do you guys think?”

“I think this is crazy.” Takaki said, and Inoo nodded heavily in agreement.

“I think the purple one has really nice scales.” Daiki said. That wasn’t exactly the type of answer Yabu was looking for, but no one argued. “They’re pretty.”

“Daiki?” Inoo’s voice held a note of concern.

“What?”

“...nothing. Go to sleep.”

When Hikaru woke up the next morning, he knew for sure that he wanted to try and have the dragons and humans get along. By the sound of things--the dragons’ living conditions especially--the dragons needed help, and stopping the sheep stealing back at home would be an added bonus. It was possible for them to live side by side, wasn’t it? To coexist?

When he pitched the idea to his friends, they didn’t seem to agree.

“You’re crazy.” Inoo declared, getting immediately hushed by the rest of them so the dragons wouldn't be disturbed, continuing in a quieter voice. “That is the worst idea I have ever heard.”

“Why?” Hikaru challenged. “They need somewhere to live, and actually sustain themselves, they--”

“Trying to put dragons and people on the same stretch of earth is like putting tomatoes in a fruit salad.” Takaki argued.

“Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.” Daiki said, Yabu letting out a burst of laughter. They all hissed at him, but the damage had been done.

Listening to dragons waking up was a unique experience. There was a great deal of the usual yawning, stretching, grumbling, and the popping of joints, but it was all in a much deeper and louder timbre, with the additional flapping of wings and display of sharp teeth. As soon as Yuto was awake Keito was as well, and then they all were up, one after another. Chinen let out a series of deep grumbles as he tried to come into consciousness, the noises sounding curiously like complaints. Yamada got immediately to his feet, stumbling about in a daze and making little noises of surprise. Ryutaro was slow, sitting, standing, then stretching and yawning. Soon the dragons all shrunk down, and it was time for breakfast.

When Hikaru decided to pitch his idea of people and dragons living together to the other crowd, their reactions weren’t much improved.

“I really don’t think that would work.” Yamada confessed. “Us dragons aren’t really fond of you guys either, to be honest.”

Daiki, who was on Yamada’s left, placed a hand on his chest, making a show of being offended. Nobody really laughed, offering raised eyebrows and smiles. Ryutaro though, was making a rather terrible face, prompting Inoo to ask a question.

“What’s with you?”

“You guys cast us out, injure and kill our families, and then expect some sort of peaceful coexistence? Are you crazy or just stupid?”

“Dragons haven’t exactly been the nicest either.” Takaki countered. “Have you ever seen what our village looks like once you decide you’re done stealing our stuff? The infirmary is full, and don’t get me started on property damage.”

Ryutaro rolled his eyes, Keito speaking up before he had the chance to retaliate.

“I think it’s a good idea.” He said, giving Hikaru a small smile. “If you think about it, he’s right. We need a substantial place to stay, and if we were able to find a home on the mainland, then…”

“We would have to hide though.” Yamada said. “I don’t like that idea.”

“And Hikaru, your mother would be hard to win over.” Inoo pointed out. “She wouldn’t go for this idea at all.”

“She doesn’t really hate dragons though, she just wants to protect everyone. If there wasn’t a danger, then maybe--”

“You need permission from your mother?” Yuto asked, understandably confused.

“You could say that.” Hikaru answered. “She’s the leader of our village.”

“Hey, Keito’s dad is too!” Chinen exclaimed. “Okamoto Kenichi--he’s our leader--and he might get behind the idea of Keito really fights for it. He loves Keito, but…”

“But he doesn’t like us.” Yabu finished, Chinen nodding reluctantly.

“He doesn’t like accepting help either.”

There was a small, hopeless silence, Yamada pointing to the sky. “There’s a storm rolling in, so if you guys want to leave, you should probably do it now.”

He had a good point, because both getting safely down the cliff face and rowing home on the little boat would be very hard in the rain. However, as soon as he was finished speaking, a huge clap of thunder sounded and it began to rain.

“Seriously?!” Inoo exclaimed. He rushed into the cave mouth to avoid the downpour, everyone else quickly following. They waited, but before long it became evident that the rain wasn’t planning on stopping any time soon. So they took seats and got comfortable, conversations occurring in small patches throughout the cave.

“Hey.” Yabu nudged Hikaru’s shoulder, pointing. “Look.”

Hikaru followed Yabu’s finger to Daiki, who had said he was going to go “talk to someone” and wandered off. He was in the middle of the cave with Yamada, the two sitting across from each other on the cave floor, close and cross-legged, playing a slap game with their hands. Yamada was smiling hesitantly at Daiki, the back of his hands resting on Daiki’s little palms. Daiki turned his hands over and Yamada couldn’t more out of the way fast enough, letting out a small, silent giggle. Daiki grinned in triumph, giving Yamada’s fingers a squeeze.

“They’re being really… Friendly.” Hikaru remarked. Yabu nodded.

“He did say that Yamada was pretty yesterday, do you think…?” Yabu didn’t finish his insinuation, and Hikaru quickly shook his head.

“No. I mean… Well…” After the initial denial, finding a reason to back it up was proving difficult. Sure, Yamada was part reptile on some level, but he was human too, a human that was very nice to look at. He began doubting his answer even more when Inoo jumped over, putting one hand on Hikaru’s shoulder and the other on Yabu’s, sitting between them and announcing in a hushed voice

“Daiki is gay for the purple dragon.”

“Really?” Yabu asked. “Did he tell you that?”

Inoo responded with a rather deadpan expression. “Are you even seeing them?” He asked back.

“Well, yes, but…”

Daiki laughed, loud enough to draw in everyone’s attention. Yamada looked embarrassed about suddenly having everyone’s eyes on them, drawing his hand up to his mouth, but he was still smiling.

Seeing that the unspoken line between dragons and humans had already been broken, the two groups began to mingle. It took about four and a half seconds for Inoo and Ryutaro to get into an argument, and Hikaru saw Keito sitting alone with Yuto in a back corner, so he walked over.

“You’re next in line too, huh?” he asked. Keito nodded, running his fingers through Yuto’s hair.

“I’m nervous about it though. Hopefully it’ll be years before I have to lead, so I have time to learn what I’m supposed to do.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Hikaru said. He knew his words were hollow because really, he didn’t know Keito much at all, but Keito seemed to appreciate the statement, thanking him.

“He’s right. You’re going to be spectacular.” Yuto declared, sounding drowsy. He had his head in Keito’s lap, eyes closed.

“That’s the medicine talking.” Keito said, smiling softly at him.

“Medicine?” Hikaru asked.

“Pain prevention. There’s something in it that makes him drowsy though.”

“Are your parents worried about you two not coming back yet?” Hikaru asked. He knew his mother was worried, and Yabu’s family probably was too. Keito shook his head.

“Yuto’s whole family is asleep, and my dad isn’t the fondest of Yuto. He thinks of him as a distraction. I mean, he looks past us for my sake, but…” Keito shrugged, glancing down at the head in his lap. Yuto was asleep, eyes closed and expression content. “I love him, so…” Keito was turning pink as he spoke, not looking up. “That’s what matters, I think.”

Hikaru smiled, Keito glancing up with an embarrassed grin, the affectionate mood completely ruined by the two that were arguing against the back wall.

“I don’t care what you say, frogs are disgusting and will not be going anywhere near my mouth!” Inoo exclaimed, Ryutaro doubling over in laughter. Their argument seemed to have reached a head.

“Inoo what are you talking about?” Yabu asked.

“This guy is disgusting!” Inoo pointed to Ryutaro accusingly. “He’s eaten a frog.”

“You ate one when you were a baby.” Daiki pointed out. “It was alive too. Remember? The story is hilarious, you should ask your mother about it sometime.”

Inoo looked positively vandalized, the entire cave erupting in laughter.

“Who’s disgusting now?” Ryutaro asked. “At least I cooked mine first. They taste like chicken. Floppy, amphibious chicken.”

“I’m going to puke.” Inoo declared, taking a seat. The atmosphere was surprisingly comfortable, and to Hikaru, it was rather uplifting.


	6. Chapter 6

The storm continued throughout the night, the wind and thunder picking up as the sun went down. By the morning, the rain had stopped, the skies a dull white.

“Uh, guys…” Inoo had strayed to the edge, looking over. “We have a problem.”

“What?” Yabu asked, going over to him. Hikaru followed, looking down as well.

“Oh.”

Floating in the water, feet and feet below, were chunks of splintered wood, broken apart and drifting in various directions.

“Well.” Was all Yabu said, voice devoid of any emotion.

“What is it?” Chinen asked. He had sat himself next to Takaki of his own accord, disregarding personal space and snuggling as close to his side as was possible. He had a mouth half full of meat, and HIkaru couldn’t tell if the look on Takaki’s face was the result of the bad table manners or the fact that this was the closest he had been to a dragon so far.

“The storm destroyed the boat.” Inoo reported with a sigh.

It took a moment for the weight of the sentence to sink in.

“Wait, destroyed it?” Yamada asked.

“Completely.” Hikaru answered with a nod. Takaki was in shock.

“The water must have gotten rough and smashed it against the rocks.” Chinen said.

“How are we supposed to get home?”

That little boat had been their only way to return. The water was much too cold to get in to this time of year, not that they could swim such a distance anyway. All they had with them now was the rope, and that wasn’t going to be much help.

Takaki had leaned back, eyes scrunched and eyebrows drawn in, looking to be in the pits of despair. “I’m going to waste away up here.” He lamented. “Stuck on a rock, eating sheep until I die…”

That last part did not sound very appealing to Hikaru either.

“Hey, it’s not that bad.” Daiki tried to say, covered up by Ryutaro.

“You’re being dumb and over dramatic, would you shut up?”

“What am I supposed to do?” Takaki asked back. “Unless, by the insanely off chance that someone from home happens to be sailing around here and wants to go rock climbing, we’re not getting home. It’s not like we can just sprout wings and…”

He trailed off, anger fading from his eyes and being replaced by a look of complete enlightenment. Ryutaro understood his train of thought at once.

“No. No no. Hell no. Fuck no.”

“What?” Yuto asked, looking back and worth between the two.

“The day that pigs fly will be the day I become a transportation service for--”

He said the word ‘transportation’ with more malice than Hikaru thought was possible, but Takaki didn’t seem to notice.

“You guys carry off pigs all the time. They’re flying then.”

Ryutaro rolled his eyes, Inoo gasping.

“You guys could take us home!”

His exclamation was met with complete silence, the dragons glancing around at each other with furrowed eyebrows.

“I guess.” Chinen said slowly, nodding as he spoke. “Technically, it's possible, but…”

Hikaru could understand why the dragons were hesitant--he didn’t want anyone sitting on his back either--but at the same time, Takaki was right. Getting to the mainland any other way was near impossible. It was their best option.

Keito met Hikaru’s eyes, and even seemed to be considering it when Ryutaro got to his feet.

“I’m not doing it.”

Nobody spoke, and within minutes he had transformed and flown off.

“Is he… Is he coming back?” Daiki asked.

“Maybe.” Yamada answered, Chinen standing with a sigh.

“I’ll go after him.” he said, and not long after he too was gone, the remaining eight sitting in a circle.

“What would be so bad about flying us back?” Inoo asked.

“It’s… It’s like we’re being turned into horses, or cattle, you know?” Yamada answered, trying to find the right words. “And we’re already so dehumanized… It’s insulting.”

“We can’t keep them here though.” Yuto declared, all eyes turning to him. “They didn’t ask to be brought here, and their families are worrying. It’s not fair.”

“Well Yuto, you can’t fly anyway. Nobody would be sitting on your back.” Yamada pointed out.

“We don’t mean any disrespect by it!” Hikaru said quickly. “We could offer some compensation, if you want.”

Even Keito made a face at that suggestion, so Hikaru decided to shut up.

“Either way, we have to wait for Chinen and Ryutaro to return before planning anything.” Keito said. “We’ll talk about it then.”

It took the majority of the day for the two to come back, and it seemed rather grudging on Ryutaro’s part. The young man refused to revert from his reptilian form, curling up on the floor of the cave and simply looking at them, angry smoke billowing lightly from his nostrils. The hesitant friendship they had built the night before wasn’t detectable any longer, and Hikaru fell asleep between Yabu and Inoo, feeling rather discouraged.

Hikaru woke up just as the sun was beginning to rise. The wind chill was bitingly cold, and upon looking around Hikaru saw all of the dragons in a scaly heap, curled together like cats. However, the dragon count was one short; Yamada was missing from the group. Upon further inspection, Hikaru realized that Daiki, who had been sandwiched between Inoo and Takaki, was missing from their little pile on the floor as well.

Confused and concerned, Hikaru slid one of his arms out from under Yabu’s skinny body--he had somehow become entangled in the older man as they’d slept--getting up. Thankfully, the two that were unaccounted for were not hard to find. Yamada, in all his glory, was curled up near the edge and watching the sunrise, with Daiki in the middle of all of his limbs. Upon approaching, Hikaru realized that the dragon’s body was radiating heat, and he was suddenly quite jealous of the cocoon of warmth that Daiki was doubtlessly in. Curious but not wanting to interrupt, Hikaru walked up as quietly as possible, Daiki’s voice becoming more and more audible.

“...and I have a brother, Daisuke--he’s the one that named me, so if you’re ever curious about the complete irony of my name having ‘dai’ in it, the joke is his fault. My height has turned my entire existence into a pun.”

Yamada gave a deep grumble, the rumble sounding like a laugh, a smile in Daiki’s voice as he continued.

“And then my dad… He’s quite a character. He owns the weapon shop in town, so I know all about different types of metals, and styles of blades, and how you’re really only supposed to fold steel eight or so times to make a good sword. Stuff like that."

Hikaru found himself smiling, leaning a bit closer to better hear his friend.

"Did you know that there's a spear called the chicken sickle? Dad got one from a Chinese trader, and it really does look like a rooster claw. It looks pretty funny."

Retreating quietly, Hikaru returned to the cave, sliding under the mass of coats he and his friends were using as a blanket, re-wedging himself between Yabu and Inoo's bodies and trying to thaw out his toes. There was only one thing on his mind: the confirmation of the statement Inoo had made yesterday.

Daiki was definitely gay for the purple dragon.

Hikaru didn’t manage to fall back asleep after witnessing Daiki and Yamada’s strangely romantic sunrise-watching, dozing a bit instead, woken completely by Inoo complaining. He couldn’t sit up thanks to Takaki, the man having latched himself to Inoo’s side in Daiki’s absence and not easily shaken off. The problem was so mundane that it was rather relaxing, despite how grumpy Yabu became when Inoo’s hissing discontentment woke him.

The dragons were already awake, sitting together and talking quietly. At first Hikaru was unsure if he wanted to interrupt their conversation by butting in, but then he realized that Daiki was sitting with them, leaning forward and listening to Yuto intently, looking extremely involved. He made his way over, sitting down between Keito and Chinen, surprised to see a freshly roasted pig carcass in the middle of the circle. As soon as Hikaru sat down, he nearly sighed out loud. Though now in their human form, the dragons were still incredibly warm. Hikaru briefly wondered if Keito would object to him pressing his freezing toes to the dragon’s arm, or something.

“I went out and got some food.” Yamada explained, seeing Hikaru’s eyes on the pig in front of them.

“And the noise woke me up.” Daiki tacked on. “I’m a light sleeper.”

The amazingly blatant lie confused Hikaru. Daiki was the heaviest sleeper he knew, snoozing through two separate natural disasters and getting all of his hair braided in the past; they obviously wanted to keep their private conversation a secret, though Hikaru didn’t know why.

Yabu stumbled over a few minutes later, still half asleep, sitting to Hikaru’s right and leaning heavily on his shoulder. Inoo and Takaki wandered over after that, and before too long they were all sitting and eating, Chinen clearing his throat.

“We’ve identified some undeniable aspects of the situation.” he said. “We need to get you all home, and soon. It’s getting colder, and as soon as a snowstorm hits those wimpy coats aren’t going to do much.”

Hikaru nodded. They would not be able to brave the elements in the clothes they had on now.

“However, we are still in debate on how to get you back.”

Takaki opened his mouth, then caught the expression on Chinen’s face and closed it.

“But we have been brainstorming, so any suggestions you all can think of that doesn’t involve riding us like pack horses would be appreciated.”

The brevity in his tone was not missed, causing the silence that followed to be rather intimidating.

“Um…” Daiki went first, drawing his eyebrows together. “All we really need is a new boat, right? Would there be a way to get one of those?”

“I don’t think so; all of the boats have been brought inside.” Inoo answered. Storing any and all possessions in one’s home was a common practice, because anything left out in the open was much more likely to be stepped on by a dragon. The little canoe-like boats like the one Inoo, Takaki, and Daiki had arrived by were taken from the water’s edge once winter came, and were usually squeezed somewhere in the owner’s living room. “Unless anyone knows how to work a full-on ship, then we can’t get back by water.”

“Besides, returning by boat is only plausible as long as the water doesn’t freeze over.” Yamada pointed out, Daiki nodding along to his words.

“Maybe you could carry us back the same way you brought us?” Yabu suggested. “We were in your talons--is talons the right word?--instead of on your backs.”

Takaki’s face didn’t suggest compliance to that idea, making Yabu tack on “...or maybe not.”

“I just don’t want to carry any of you back.” Ryutaro said bluntly. “I have no interest in going to your mainland, and I had no part in getting you guys here. I don’t want you on my back, I don’t want to put myself in danger trying to--”

“I understand why you’re upset.” Keito said, speaking up for the first time, Ryutaro falling silent. “But it’s the safest and fastest way, isn’t it?”

The silence that followed was terse, obviously resistant to agreement. Yuto stood up.

“Let’s talk about this alone.” He proposed. Then, apologetically and to the rest of them: “We’ll be right back.”

Once they were out of earshot, Hikaru scooted across the circle to Daiki.

“So, your brother and your father’s armory… What else did you and Yamada talk about?”

Daiki didn’t even attempt feigning ignorance, his face betraying his surprise. “How did you know?”

Hikaru shrugged. “Something woke me up. How did you get to cuddling with a dragon?”

Daiki shrugged back, not meeting Hikaru’s eyes. “He was awake, I was awake, and it was cold. So we decided to talk a little.”

Hikaru wasn’t sure how much he believed that, but Daiki wasn’t going to give him anything else, so he let it slide. Thanks to the loss of the dragon’s body heat, they all huddled close to each other, Inoo sticking himself to Daiki’s side.

“I know we keep talking about riding on them, but… I don’t know if I’ll be able to.” Inoo confessed, sounding slightly hopeless. “They’re huge, and they move ridiculously fast. I think I would fall off and die.”

“You probably would.” Yabu said with a nod. Hikaru laughed, Inoo making a rather indignant noise in response.

By the time the dragons’ conference was over, they were near frozen. Hikaru was considering putting his own hands in Yabu’s pockets for warmth when they returned, Keito in the lead, opening his mouth to speak.

“We have decided that, unless something happens between now and then that makes this decision null or implausible, that we will be giving you all rides. However, we will be waiting until Yuto’s shoulder is healed before going.”

“Thank you so much.” Hikaru said, standing and bowing low. Behind him, his friends followed his example, and a relieved smile found its way on to his face. They were going to go home.


	7. Chapter 7

Chinen had a rather pitying expression on his face then they straightened their backs, making Hikaru ask.

“What?”

“You guys look freezing.” Chinen said, nudging Yamada with his elbow. “Come on, lets go get some firewood for these poor guys, or something.”

Pointing out their lack of warmth brought it back to the front of Hikaru’s mind, and without losing another moment he hurried over to Keito and pressed up to his side, bobbing up and down by bending and straightening his knees. Keito didn’t edge away from him, his expression one of honest confusion.

“Um… Hello, Hikaru.”

“I’m cold!” Hikaru exclaimed in explanation. Yuto laughed, getting on Hikaru’s other side, and he thanked them, blowing into his hands. Yamada and Chinen weren’t gone for long, Yamada watching Daiki’s fire-building demonstration with interest. Chinen stayed green and scaly until the set-up was over, blowing the fire to life. They spent their day huddled around the fire, becoming friends, a grudging Ryutaro even joining in conversation.

They learned quite a bit about each other in the days that followed, waiting for Yuto's shoulder to heal. Hikaru found out that Chinen was quite devious under his cute exterior, if the stories told about him were true. Yamada had a rather extensive bronze collection at home, and both Ryutaro and Yuto had younger brothers, Shintaro and Raiya, respectively, that they both adored. Everyone saw the increasing closeness between Yamada and Daiki, though nobody said anything, and they all got so used to Takaki’s whining that even Ryutaro stopped complaining about it.

The medicine that had been brought for Yuto was working wonders. His injury was healing up fast, and within three days he was stretching out his wings, Hikaru able to finally see just how amazingly large his wingspan was.

“You’re magnificent!” Keito called up to him, the same way Yuto had the first time Hikaru and Yabu met them. Yuto’s mouth opened, showing his teeth, and he nuzzled Keito’s torso with his face, gentle but enthusiastic. Keito beamed, laughing, the scene bringing a smile to Hikaru’s face.

The night before their planned evacuation, they hit a problem.

“I was thinking last night, and I realized that if we all fly in together, it’ll look like an attack.” Yabu said. “There are watches out at all hours of the day and night, they would try to shoot you out of the sky.”

“Oh.” They all fell into a contemplative silence.

“There has to be some safe way for us to get there.” Yamada finally said. “Some round-about route, or something.”

“There isn’t one that I know about.” Hikaru answered. “If we try to go around, we would probably get too close to the bigger city, and that would be much more dangerous.”

“Are you saying that there isn’t a way?” Ryutaro said after a moment. Hikaru quickly shook his head.

“There probably is one, but… Maybe if one person sneaks in, they could find a safe path and report back?”

An anticipation lingered in the air, waiting to see who would volunteer. When no one did, Hikaru decided to take responsibility for his idea.

“I’ll do it.” He said. As soon as he spoke up, Keito did too.

“I’ll go with you.”

Hikaru smiled at him, but the smile he got in response betrayed a definite nervousness. The formation of an actual, solid plan made everything that they had been talking about very real, and it wasn’t going to be easy. Hikaru was a strange mix of jittery and still, hopping to his feet one moment and sitting back down the next, watching as the moon rose slowly into the sky. Once the shining crescent had centered itself over the water, Keito approached him.

“Should we go now?” he asked. Hikaru’s nerves heightened a tenfold.

“Yeah, sure.” He stammered out. Keito nodded, and in a few moments he wasn’t human anymore, holding his strong legs under his body and waiting for Hikaru to climb on.

Passing through the wishes of good luck and pats on the back, Hikaru tried to figure out how he was supposed to actually get on Keito’s back. The scales gave Hikaru’s boots no traction, and he almost slipped completely off and on to the ground. Unlike Yamada and Ryutaro, Keito’s body was devoid of spikes, Hikaru finding himself with nothing to hold on to. He wondered how inappropriate it would be to ask if there was a way to get some sort of saddle.

Extremely, probably.

Hikaru dug his heels in and held on to Keito the best he could manage, hoping that if he fell, Keito would find some way to catch him. He felt Keito’s body heave with a deep breath of preparation, muscles tensing to take them both into the sky. Then Keito leapt out, off of the rock and over the water below.

The sensation was unlike anything Hikaru had ever experienced. The bottom of his stomach felt as though it was suspended in midair, his entire body light. The wind whipped through his hair harshly, pinching his ears and cheeks with cold. The rest of his body was hot with adrenaline, buzzing, eyes wide open.

Keito’s body was moving beneath him, powerful muscles surging together fluidly to keep them in the air. Hikaru hadn’t expected the grace and ease of movement that Keito was displaying; he had witnessed Keito tripping over his own feet on four separate occasions within their short time together, so he had figured that moving through the air might be a bit of a hazard. It wasn’t at all; he was really, truly magnificent.

Once they had flown high enough to touch the moon, Keito dived. Hikaru’s stomach completely dropped out of his chest and he gasped, struggling for a moment to get freezing air into his lungs as it rushed past them. Keito glided just above the water’s edge, the clear moonlight casting their shadows into the dark ripples below. They were nearing land, Hikaru’s anxiety about what they were doing returning.

They were headed directly for one of the watch posts, Hikaru trying to think of a way to communicate with Keito. They needed to veer left, but Hikaru couldn’t shout the direction; Keito wouldn’t be able to hear him, even if he could find the breath to speak. Unable to think of another way, he pushed with his left heel, trying to be gentle, applying light pressure to Keito’s side.

Thankfully, the dragon got the hint, shifting course, and Hikaru used this method to steer them to a proper landing place. At one point Hikaru thought that one of the watch towers had spotted them, but they managed to land in a clearing in some trees, completely undisturbed. The feeling of relief as Keito’s claws touched the earth was immense; Keito folded his legs under himself and Hikaru slid off his back. His own legs were much too shaky to catch him and he slumped into the frosty grass.

“We did it.” Hikaru said, a breathy, disbelieving laugh exiting his lungs. Keito nodded his head. “We did it, we did it.”

Hikaru laid on his back, spreading his arms and legs and staring into the sky. The grass was soft and earthy and he had missed it more than he realized; he had missed being home more than he thought he would.

Keito got to his feet, shaking a small leather pack that was around his neck up and over his head. All dragons carried a similar bag, and Hikaru had seen them in the past but had no idea what they carried. He recently learned they were used to hold clothes, and the idea of the little bag was now extremely amusing.

Keito didn’t get the chance to change back though, someone shouting Hikaru’s name, ropes flying from between the trees and catching around Keito’s neck. It was a group of men, Hikaru’s mother in the lead, looking both scared and incredibly relieved.

Keito struggled, but the more he pulled the more the ropes constricted. He let out a choking gasp, stumbling and falling to his front legs. As soon as he was on the ground, Hikaru’s mother ran to him, crouching and pulling him into a hug.

“You’re safe, you’re safe, you’re here…” She held him tightly, and Hikaru’s arms went around her, but he his first concern was Keito. He needed to get Keito free.

“Daiki said he’s seen you carried off by a dragon, and all I could do was assume the worst…. That you had been…”

“I’m fine Mom. It’s fine.” He had to struggle slightly to be released from her embrace, standing, but she kept a tight grip on his hands.

“And then this dragon was seen flying in, and since it was alone we figured we could trap it, but then you were here. You’re here.” She spoke as though she couldn’t believe what she was saying. Keito let out a loud shrieking screech, startling the men restraining him and trying to take flight. He almost looked like he succeeded, Hikaru’s heart leaping hopefully in his chest as all four of Keito’s paws lifted from the ground. Then all of the men pulled down together and Keito crashed to the ground, floundering.

“Come on Hikaru, let’s go home.” Katsumi said, taking his arm and pulling him in the direction of the village.

“What’s going to happen to the dragon?” Hikaru asked, looking over his shoulder and meeting Keito’s eyes. Though scared, Hikaru could tell that above all, Keito did not want him to reveal anything. Keito was to remain a dragon, and nothing more.

“He’ll probably be put in the arena or something, it’s been a while.”

The sentence was said dismissively, but it made a cold stone of fear drop in Hikaru’s stomach. However, he kept his mouth closed like Keito wanted and let his mother lead him away, hoping the dragon would find a way to free himself.

He didn’t. The news of a dragon being kept and contained spread like wildfire, and it was so nerve-wracking that it made Hikaru’s stomach turn. As soon as Hikaru could leave his mother’s sight without her getting too worried, he grabbed a paddle boat and made his way across the water. He needed to tell the others about what had happened, what was happening, and what they needed to do.

When Hikaru neared the huge rock, he was able to look up and see Yamada and Daiki sitting on the edge, legs hanging off and dangling below them. They both had foolish smiles on their faces, and Yamada had one of Daiki’s hands in both of his own, playing with the fingers on his hand.

“Hey!” Hikaru shouted. He was surprised that his shout managed to catch their attention, breaking their little bubble and making them look down.

“Hikaru?” Daiki shouted back. Within moments everyone else was peering down at him, Daiki’s yell having caught their attention.

“A little help up?” Hikaru asked, and Daiki threw down the rope. Hikaru grabbed it, being slowly pulled up the steep rock face.

“What happened?” Yuto asked as soon as Hikaru was in view, bouncing up and down on his heels, entire body anxious. “Where is Keito?”

“He… We… Well…” Hikaru wanted desperately to lie, wanted to say that everything was fine, but it was obvious that everyone had been worrying about Keito in his absence, and a proper explanation was what they deserved. “We landed fine, but apparently we were seen by someone on watch, so we ended up getting ambushed. Keito isn’t hurt, or anything--” Hikaru said quickly, wanting to get the terrible expression off of Yuto’s face as quickly as he could “--but he got taken into custody, more or less.”

“Custody? They arrested him?” Chinen asked, confused. Hikaru grimaced a little.

“Not exactly.”

“Don’t tell me…” Yabu trailed off, voice quiet with a soft horror, and Hikaru nodded, not meeting his eyes.

“What? What happened?” The horrible, heartbreakingly concerned look was on Yuto’s face again. “Is he okay?”

“He’s okay for now.” Hikaru knew the next words were going to be difficult to say, and the forcing of them past his lips was almost painful. “A while ago, people didn’t like the idea of not knowing anything about dragons, especially because they were attacking us so much, so… Whenever there’s an opportunity to catch a dragon alone, it is captured and used to learn from.”

His words were met with silence, but not for very long.

“What the hell?” Ryutaro shouted. “You guys practice how to kill us?”

“It’s not killing!” Hikaru said quickly, though he knew quite well that dragons never made it out of the arena once they were put into it. “It’s just about learning weak spots, and how to put out fires, and how to defend ourselves. It’s terrible, I know, but…”

“I can’t believe this.” All of the dragons looked furious, and they had every right to be. Hikaru didn’t want to try defending himself; he knew he was in the wrong, and his friends seemed to understand, keeping closed mouths and apologetic faces. Yuto sat down, eyes fixed on nothing. Yamada and Chinen were silent, and Ryutaro was fuming.

“I can’t believe… I can’t fucking believe--”

“What were we supposed to do?” Takaki asked, whirling on him. “You guys are huge and dangerous with your fire, and your claws, and your gigantic teeth. Were we supposed to just laze around like sitting ducks and let you--”

“None of this matters right now.” Yuto said. His voice was quiet but serious, catching everyone’s attention and making Takaki fall silent. His shoulders were squared, eyes set with determination. “Hikaru, we can save Keito, right?”

Hikaru nodded. “We can. He’s in the arena, which has a poorly constructed roof. It’s made of wood, and it probably wouldn’t be too hard to poke a hole through. Once that happens, it would be easy to make an escape.”

“When do you need us there?” Chinen asked.

“Sometime around midday tomorrow.” Hikaru answered. He didn’t actually want to get the other dragons involved; he planned on trying to sneak Keito out before then, and then having Keito fly back before the others had the chance to put themselves in danger. Just in case that plan didn’t work, however, he could use their help. “The others know where the building is, and can direct you to it. Be careful. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

They all nodded, even Ryutaro. As angry as he was, he was listening.

“Don’t try to get into the building. I’m going to do that part. I’ll get ahold of the keys to his cell and then once the ceiling opens, he can fly out. It’ll be easy.”

Even he didn’t believe his last statement, and he knew the others didn’t either, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to say it.

“I need to get back before my mother realizes I’m gone, so please… Try not to kill each other.”


	8. Chapter 8

Hikaru used the rope to get down the cliff, unable to calm his thoughts as he rowed back home. What he wanted to do was bring Keito his clothes and convince him to change back, then smuggle him out of the arena before people realized they didn’t recognize him. Actually trying to spring Keito from the arena in full dragon form would be infinitely more dangerous, especially if he had to employ the help of the other four.

The sun had barely risen when Hikaru began making his way down to the arena, Keito’s bag of clothes over his shoulder. Despite how early it was there were a few people already there, cleaning the place in preparation for the rest of the town to arrive. He was able to get into the back, the area with all of the cages, without being seen.

“Keito?” Hikaru asked hesitantly, closing the doors behind him. There was a rustling and quiet snort, Keito pressing his face against the iron bars and meeting Hikaru’s eyes. Hikaru ran over to him.

“Are you alright?” He asked, grateful for the nod he received. Obviously, Keito wasn’t really alright, but he wasn’t physically harmed, and that was the important thing.

“I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”

Keito nodded his head again, but to Hikaru’s dismay he realized that even in human form, he wouldn’t be able to squeeze between the iron bars holding him in.

“Why haven’t you turned human yet?” Hikaru asked. “If they found out that there was a person in here, they would probably let you out.”

Keito shook his head, slow and adamant. Hikaru decided not to argue, instead saying that he would be right back, and running out to find someone with the keys. None of the people sweeping looked any type of in charge of the event but he decided to try asking them anyway, making his way over to someone when his name was called.

“Hikaru!”

Hikaru froze, feeling as though he was caught trespassing somewhere he shouldn’t be. The tone was friendly however, and when Hikaru turned he had to smile. It was Inoo’s mother. Inoo’s family organized most of the social events around town, and therefore were in charge or the arrangement and upkeep of the arena, something Hikaru hadn’t even remembered until now.

“What are you doing here?” She asked him. “Helping set things up?”

“I, well…” In all honestly, no, Hikaru was not here to help set things up. He was here to derail the entire event, actually. “Yeah. I need the keys, but I can’t seem to find them.”

“Keys? You don’t need the keys.” She gave him a chiding look. “You can’t play with that beast, no matter how invincible you think you are. It’ll roast you like a pig.”

Hikaru had seen a dragon roast a pig. It wasn’t a pleasant thing. “I wanted to lock the front doors, so no one would come in until setup was finished.”

Hikaru was proud of his on-the-spot thinking, but Mrs. Inoo just scoffed.

“That doesn’t matter to me; it isn’t like we’re charging admission, or some nonsense like that. Go on, the stands need to be cleaned. There’s something sticky on the floor in rows D through F.”

She got him a bucket of water and a rag and sent him out. Reluctantly, he did as she asked, keeping an eye out for a ring of keys on someone’s--anyone’s--belt. Anxiety bubbled in his stomach the longer he worked, the sun rising higher in the sky, and when he finished and the event was about to begin, he was completely empty handed.

He hurried back to Keito’s cage, ready to try harder at convincing him to turn human so they could leave, when he saw two other men standing around the dragon, one of them with a ring of keys in his belt.

_ Yes._

They were leaning against the wall and talking, Keito sitting with his legs folded under his body and watching them without much interest. Hikaru painted a smile on his face, walking over.

“I’m so glad I found you!” he exclaimed, Keito lifting his head at the sound of his voice. The men stopped their conversation, looking at him. “I was told to send you guys over by the front doors, to let people in when they start coming. If you don’t mind.”

They nodded and started towards the door, Hikaru raising a hand. “Wait! I need the keys.”

“What for?” The man with the keys in his possession asked, placing a hand over the ring on his belt.

“Not sure.” Hikaru decided that not making up an arguable excuse would be for the best. “I was asked to hold on to them, though.”

There was nothing suspicious about his answer so the man shrugged and complied, tossing the keys to Hikaru before heading out with his companion. Hikaru had to stoop to catch them, and as soon as the cold metal was in his hand he breathed a sigh of relief. Hikaru rushed to the door of Keito’s cage, fumbling a bit in his rush to unlock the door.

“Sorry,” he said to Keito. “I was caught snooping and made to wash things.”

Keito didn’t make any sound in response, and after some struggling the door clicked open.

“Okay, change back. We need to go.”

Keito gave Hikaru a wide-eyed look, shaking his head. “Keito, come on, we need to--”

“You already got him out? Excellent!” The man that had first given Hikaru the keys was back, rope in hand. "Help me, would you?"

Hikaru felt sick to his stomach, but he nodded slowly. Keito was still, letting ropes be put around him, not breaking eye contact with Hikaru, who tried his hardest to convey that it would be fine, that he was going to escape, even if that meant simply running for it. They slowly walked into the arena, and Hikaru's stomach sank.

People were milling into their seats, a large group standing in one side of the arena, holding weapons. Keito's eyes were betraying a growing panic, and Hikaru didn't know what to do. They were surrounded. He was about to offer some kind of assurance when a loud thump on the roof startled the entire crowd into silence.

Another thump came soon thereafter, followed by the sound of crackling wood, a break visible in the ceiling above them. Hikaru realized who it was.

The third time was the charm, a hole being broken into the roof and letting in a loud screech that Hikaru recognized as Yuto.

"Let's go." Hikaru told Keito, dropping the ropes he was holding. Keito nodded, setting his shoulders and preparing for takeoff. Keito just needed to make it up and out the hole in the ceiling, and they could regroup somewhere else later.

The dragons seemed to have a different idea of how rescue mission was going to go, because as soon as the hole was big enough to fly out they all flew in, all wings and claws and teeth, shrieking.

Complete and utter pandemonium broke out. People were screaming, shouting; the arena was much too small to hold five dragons and this many people all at once. Before too long, arrows were being slung through the air, Hikaru's immediate fear not for the dragons--they had thick scales--but for his friends, who were sitting on their backs.

Yamada understood first that the area was much too crowded, flying out the same way he had come in. The rest followed, and soon Keito was the only one left.

"Go!" Hikaru shouted at him. All weapons were aimed in their direction, people running at them with their swords raised in the air. Keito understood just as well as Hikaru that Hikaru was not standing in a safe place, flapping his wings and grabbing Hikaru into the air with his talons, flying both of them through the hole in the roof.

The other dragons were waiting outside for them, and when Keito and Hikaru surfaced from the building, everyone fixed Hikaru with an expectant expression. They didn't know where to go.

"Let's go back to the woods." Hikaru told Keito, who nodded and took off in that direction. They landed in the clearing they had been in when they arrived, and Hikaru knew it wasn't the safest place for them to be, but he wasn't on Keito's back, and couldn't steer him somewhere else.

They all landed at the same time in the clearing, Keito putting Hikaru down gently before he and Yuto’s bodies collided, pressing as close as possible in relief. Yuto gave no regard to Yabu, who was still seated on his back, but it was no matter; Yabu slid off easily, walking over to Hikaru.

“That was a catastrophe.” He declared to Hikaru, who had to agree. The rescue mission had been a complete mess, but it had been successful nonetheless. Hikaru had been doubting a few times throughout the process if Keito would be able to make it back to the rest alive, but there he was, and Hikaru couldn’t be more relieved. He wondered if, in the fray, anyone had noticed his friends on the backs of the dragons, or if they had been too distracted by the beasts themselves. Somehow he doubted that they were seen, and that was a good thing, though it would have been impossible for people to miss Keito picking Hikaru up and hauling him away. He would have to figure that one out later though.

Takaki was getting off of Chinen’s back, looking completely disoriented. It was amusing to have one of the tallest people on easily the smallest dragon, but the arrangement seemed to have worked out fine. Daiki was still sitting on Yamada, leaning forward, the purple creature writhing slightly. The scene was strange until Hikaru realized that Daiki was tickling Yamada, his small hands dancing across Yamada’s neck. Yamada shook enough to throw Daiki into the grass, the older man attempting to roll away, a devious grin on his face. Yamada pounced, standing over Daiki and baring his teeth at him, but the display was playful, not malicious, and Daiki just laid on his back and laughed.

Even after Chinen was done transforming back, there was one person that hadn’t moved. Inoo was clinging to one of the spikes on Ryutaro’s back as though nothing was going to be able to dislodge him, and the large red dragon himself was just sitting there, unamused, waiting.

“Come on Inoo.” With help, Inoo got down, collapsing to his knees in the grass. As soon as Ryutaro was human again he burst into laughter, almost laughing too hard to put his pants on.

“What’s so funny?” Takaki asked.

“Don’t you dare—” Inoo began, transforming in seconds to a trauma patient to a person whose glare could make someone drop dead. Ryutaro completely disregarded him, choking out a few words between laughs.

“We were… And I dived a bit and… Twenty-seven curse words in three seconds…”

“Oh.” Inoo waved a hand. “That’s fine. I thought you were going to tell them about all the screaming.”

Just the mention of it sent Ryutaro into another fit of laughter, and Hikaru found himself smiling. Once Ryutaro managed to pull himself together he stood up, landing a light punch on Inoo’s shoulder.

“You’re not too bad.” he said.

Keito and Yuto had finally reverted to human form but Keito was still in Yuto’s arms, the taller male peppering Keito’s face with feather kisses, and Keito’s arms were fiercely tight around Yuto’s waist.

“Well?” Hikaru asked, turning his attention to Yabu. “How was your flight?”

Yabu smiled a bit. “Flying is a pretty amazing feeling, isn’t it?” he asked back. “I mean, the wind was freezing cold and I almost thought I was going to fall off at one point, but I did enjoy it.”

Hikaru nodded in agreement. Those had been about his thoughts on flying as well. “Did I miss anything from up in the cave while Keito and I were gone?”

Yabu wracked his brain, lips furrowing as he thought. “Nothing too exciting.” He finally reported. “Yuto told a story, some sort of folktale they have at home, and that was interesting. Oh! You did miss Daiki nearly falling off the cliff when we were deciding who was going with who and Yamada said he wanted Daiki to ride him.”

Hikaru snorted in laughter, a bit sad that he had missed that spectacle.

“Well?” Takaki asked, voice raised to address the group. “What do we do now?”

That was an excellent question. Everyone was safe and they were home now, so there was no longer a need for them to stay together. The thought of parting was an unwelcome one, though.

“Let’s move somewhere else, at least.” Hikaru said. “This is where Keito and I were found last time, so they might come back here.”

Everyone nodded, heading into the surrounding trees. Once they found a place big enough for them all to sit around together they did just that, and found themselves brought back to Takaki’s question.

“You guys are all home now.” Yuto said, getting nods.

“You could go home too, then.” Yabu said. “If you want.”

Yabu’s statement was met with a few shrugs.

“I wouldn’t mind staying here for a little while.” Chinen said. “It’s boring back at home; everyone is asleep.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Have any of you given more thought to that idea Hikaru had before?” Keito asked, voice hesitant, as though he was unsure of the response his words were going to get. “The whole ‘living together’ thing?”

The question was met with silence, the dragons all glancing around at each other. Considering what they had just come back from doing, Hikaru could understand their state of mind.

“It’s up to you.” Hikaru finally said. “I would still like to give it a try, but if it’s too far-fetched…”

“It would be very beneficial if we could live on this land, objectively speaking.” Chinen said. “Subjectively though, I like you guys. I wouldn’t mind seeing if this could work.”

“I would like to live here.” Yamada said, and while he and Daiki didn’t look at each other, just how hard Daiki was trying to suppress a smile was stupid.

“Ryutaro?” Keito asked. Ryutaro shrugged, not looking up from the grass he was twisting between his fingers.

“It would be nice if you guys stopped trying to kill us.” He said. “So sure, I think we could try it. Don’t take that to mean that I like any of you, or something like that.”

“Right back at you.” Takaki said, making Ryutaro smile.

“You all do realize how close to impossible this is probably going to be, right?” Inoo said. “Trying to get so many people to change their minds…”

“We can do it.” Hikaru said, nudging Inoo’s shoulder. Honestly though, now that they had a yes vote for the idea, Hikaru wasn’t even how to start. They stayed there for a while, bouncing ideas off of each other, not many of them sounding very concrete or plausible. All they could really decide on was that revealing everything at once would be a very, very bad idea.

By the time night started falling, Hikaru realized that they should probably head back. Their families had no idea that they were alive and well, and it would be good to get home.

“Let’s go back.” he said, standing. Then, to the dragons, “We’ll probably be back tomorrow, if we can escape our parents long enough.”

The dragons nodded, farewells and goodnights being said, Inoo leading the way through the trees.


	9. Chapter 9

“What should we say about where we were?” Yabu asked. “We can’t exactly tell the whole truth, and they’re going to ask a ton of questions.”

Daiki was in the middle of this fabulous—and honestly, quite ridiculous—lie about pirates, a shipwreck, and too-conveniently timed lightning when Hikaru shook his head.

“Can’t we just tell the truth?” He asked. “That way, we don’t have to try to remember any weird details, and it would paint the dragons in a really positive light if they knew that they helped us. We just need to leave out the transformation part.”

They were all pointing fingers at each other, trying to get their story straight, when Hikaru caught sight of something moving through the trees, headed straight for them. He barely had time to recognize the shape as a person in the dark before they barreled into Daiki, wrapping their arms around his torso. It was Daiki’s older brother Daisuke, and Daiki made a muffled, surprised noise until he figured out who was hugging him. When he did, he shouted Daisuke’s name and hugged back, the older explaining that he had been on watch and saw them, leading them into town.

There was an uproar. Hikaru lost count of how many people hugged him, Yabu reaching out and taking Hikaru’s hand to avoid them being separated in the sea of happy people. It was nice to see everyone again, though the worry etched into Hikaru’s mother’s face when he saw her did make him feel guilty.

“I thought, for sure, that this time—”

“Mom.” Hikaru hugged her, pulling back and fixing her with a smile that he hoped was reassuring. “I’m okay. Nothing is going to happen to me, alright? Don’t worry so much.”

“What happened?” Someone in the crowd—Takaki’s brother, if Hikaru’s recognition was serving him—wanted to know. “Where were you? How did you get back?”

The masses grew quiet, all wanting to hear the story. Only feeling like telling it once, Hikaru encouraged everyone to make a circle, confirming that everyone could hear him before they began.

“During the last dragon attack,” Yabu began “Hikaru and I fell—well, actually, Hikaru ran into me, but whatever—and some huge dragon wanted to roast us before we ran away. Instead of getting burnt up though, this other dragon picked us up and took us out of there, up into this cliff somewhere in the ocean.”

“A dragon saved your lives?” The majority of the crowd was silent and skeptical.

“Yes.” Hikaru continued. “They fed us, and kept us warm. One of the dragons—there were two, I don’t think Yabu mentioned that—was hurt, and when the other one had flown off to find help was when these three bozos showed up.”

“We were trying to help you guys!” Inoo exclaimed defensively.

“We saw the dragon flying off and we climbed up the cliff, but then our boat got smashed to pieces in the most recent storm, and we couldn’t get home.” Daiki explained helpfully.

“I don’t understand.” Hikaru’s mother said, turning to them. “If you didn’t have a boat, how did you get back?”

This was the moment in which people were either going to believe or disbelieve them, but he had to say it.

“The dragons carried us home.”

The silence after that statement was overwhelming. Everyone was completely still except for Takaki, who was nodding in agreement to Hikaru’s words.

“...what?”

Hikaru’s mother wasn’t buying it.

“Remember that dragon you found with me in the clearing?” Hikaru asked. “I rode home on its back. The other dragons that flew in were the ones that brought home Yabu, Daiki, Inoo, and Takaki. They knew we were going to die if we didn’t get back, so they took us home.”

No one looked as though they quite knew what to say. Finally though, Hikaru’s mother said “No matter how you got here, we’re all just glad you’re back.”

After that conversation broke apart, splitting into side conversations. All Hikaru wanted to do was go to bed, leaning his head on Yabu’s shoulder.

“I can’t tell if people actually believed us.” Inoo said. “I mean, I know I probably wouldn’t, but it’s the truth.”

“My brother did.” Daiki said happily.

“My brother didn’t.” Takaki responded dryly.

Hikaru shrugged. “I don’t think my mom did either, but like Inoo said, it’s the only story they’re going to get.”

Promising to meet up tomorrow, they all headed their separate ways and went to sleep.

Early next morning, Hikaru was one step outside his front door, stretching, when he caught sight of Daiki. Daiki was fully dressed, bundled up, and holding a large picnic basket, Inoo trailing behind him and looking more like he wanted to do back to bed than do anything else.

“Where are you going?” Hikaru had to ask them.

“I’m going to visit Yamada!” Daiki was much too enthusiastic for how cold it was outside, and Inoo seemed to agree with Hikaru’s opinion, mouthing Daiki’s words behind him and rolling his eyes. Hikaru didn’t miss the exclusion of the other dragons’ names, but decided not to ask about it just yet.

“And the basket?” The object in question was rather huge, and looked heavy, the top covered in a cloth to keep in as much warm air as possible.

“Breakfast.” Daiki answered simply. “We can’t expect them to go out and cook rabbits or something, can we?” This time he said ‘them’, as though he had noticed how obviously keen he was on one specific purple dragon, trying to gloss over his statement.

Hikaru didn’t mention anything about it as they gathered Yabu and Takaki and--with Takaki grumbling about how much he needed to sleep, how warm and comfortable his bed was, and how oh god Inoo, get your freezing hands out of my shirt--they made their way into the woods.

“Alright Daiki, I have to ask.” Hikaru said as they walked. “You really like Yamada, don’t you?”

Hikaru didn’t get an immediate answer to his question, Daiki hiding his face under the guise of fixing his hair, and in his silence Inoo drawled out “Oh, does he? Whatever could have given you that idea?”

Daiki elbowed Inoo hard between the ribs, and while Inoo was doubled over, wheezing, he gave his own answer.

“You could say that, yeah.”

“Dude, it shows all over your face.” Yabu said, finding Daiki’s act of trying to salvage any sort of dignity regarding his crush on Yamada ridiculous. Daiki let out a long, drawn out sigh.

“I know.” He whined, burying his face in his hands. “It’s dumb. I’m stupid.”

“If it’s any consolation, I think he likes you too.” Yabu said, giving Daiki a clap on the shoulder. Hikaru nodded; he had definitely seen affection on both sides, what with Yamada always finding a seat next to Daiki and responding positively to all of Daiki’s advances and compliments. That remark did seem to be a consolation, putting a spring in his step as they made their way to where the dragons has been when they left the night before.

Hikaru found it rather amusing that despite Daiki’s “we can’t expect them to eat rabbits” comment, that was exactly what their friends had done for breakfast, he and Inoo laughing as they approached.

“Morning!” Yuto exclaimed cheerily, walking up to meet them. His peppy tone of voice made Takaki groan and slump on to Yabu’s shoulder. Then Yuto stopped in his tracks, fixing Daiki with a stare.

“Is that food?” he asked, pointing to the basket.

Daiki nodded, extending the basket in Yuto’s direction. Yuto declared Daiki his new best friend as they made their way over to where the rest of the group was sitting. Daiki had brought fruit, bread, and muffins for everyone, and it was quite an amazing feast, despite Takaki falling asleep on Inoo’s shoulder only a few minutes into the meal. He had a half-eaten apple in his hand, and was woken by Ryutaro getting close to his ear and growling loudly, causing him to shout and flail his limbs around. Ryutaro laughed until he was hit in the face with the remainder of Takaki’s apple, everyone else laughing at the rather offended expression on his face as he threw it back.

“So, what happened when you arrived in town?” Chinen asked. “Did they throw a party?”

“Sort of.” Hikaru answered. “They were very excited.”

“Did they ask where you had been?” Yamada asked. Everyone nodded.

“We gave them a condensed version, with less human transformation.” Yabu explained. “We just told them how we got there in the first place, and that we didn’t get eaten, and that you brought us back here.”

Ryutaro pulled a face. “And they believed you?”

“They didn’t quite believe it as much after we told them how much of a jackass you are.” Inoo said to him, making Ryutaro stick his tongue out. It made him laugh though, and Inoo laughed back.

“No, lots of people thought we were either delirious, or seriously dehydrated.” Takaki shrugged. “My family, for instance. And Hikaru’s.”

“Not mine.” Daiki reported proudly. “Or, my brother thinks I’m telling the truth. I have no idea about my dad.”

“So… The majority weren’t too hot on the idea.”

“Pretty much.”

Conversation faded out, and after watching Daiki hand feed Yamada a bite of his muffin—and, consequently, watching Inoo roll his eyes so hard they almost fell out of his head—Hikaru decided to turn to Keito. There was something that had been on his mind since the night before, and he was hesitant about asking it, but asking would be the only way to get an answer.

“Hey… How inappropriate would it be to ask for dragon riding lessons?” The dragons had expressed distaste over the whole idea, but after actually experiencing having someone on their back yesterday, all of them had seemed much less opposed to dragon riding, if at all.

Keito mulled over his question for a few moments before nodding. “I don’t think I would mind.” He said. “It was kind of fun, wasn’t it? We made a good team.”

Hikaru smiled. They did make a good team; they had understood each other’s nonverbal cues, Hikaru able to steer without incident and Keito making sure he didn’t fall off.

“Did you want to start now?” Keito asked. Hikaru shook his head.

“Well, I mean, you’re eating breakfast and I—”

Keito shrugged, stuffing the remainder of his piece of bread in his mouth and standing, brushing off his hands. Yuto followed, curious, and once Keito transformed he looked confused.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“We’re going to practice flying.” Hikaru answered. “I mean, if that’s okay with you.”

“Why wouldn’t that be okay with me?” Yuto asked, and Hikaru wasn’t sure what to say. The phrase ‘I’m going to practice riding your boyfriend’ had sounded much worse in his head.

“Uh… No reason, I guess.”

Getting on Keito’s back was much easier the second time, and before too long he was settled and ready. Keito glanced back at him once he was still, and he nodded.

Though they didn’t go very high, leaving the ground was a sensation Hikaru didn’t think his stomach would ever get used to. Since they couldn’t fly very far he and Keito practiced turns, Hikaru gripping Keito’s body and trying very hard not to fall off, Keito slowing down and glancing back after each rotation to make sure Hikaru was fine.

This ended up being how most of their days went. The others caught on to riding practice as well, and soon they were all learning together. Yabu and Daiki were better at keeping themselves steady than Takaki and Inoo, who made strange faces and rather loud noises, respectively. Seeing Inoo’s terrified face firsthand was hilarious, and Hikaru could tell by the way Ryutaro would dip or jolt every once and a while that the large dragon enjoyed Inoo’s reactions.

Takaki even fell off Chinen’s back once, much to the small dragon’s dismay—he seemed to stop and sigh for a moment before diving down after him. Despite the initial dislike, Takaki was doubtlessly warming up to Chinen. It was also obvious that Chinen had made it his goal to make Takaki like him best, and Hikaru was glad Chinen was succeeding.

Each of the dragons had their own strengths and weaknesses, something Hikaru was able to pick up on the longer they were in each other’s company. Chinen wasn’t too strong, but he was incredibly fast; Ryutaro’s size did slow him down, but it made him solid and formidable, able to take on anything. Yamada’s fire was the hottest of them all, coming out of his mouth in more whites and yellows than orange. Yuto’s thin frame and large wings made flying his forte, but when Hikaru asked Keito what it was he was good at, the dragon just shrugged.

“He can move well in water.” Yuto answered with a proud smile, making Keito look at him. “Lots of dragons just flail around, because of the strain water weight puts on the wings, but Keito can swim almost as well as he can fly.”

Hikaru didn’t even know that was something dragons could do, nodding in surprise as Keito shook his head at Yuto’s words, looking embarrassed.  
By the end of the week Hikaru considered the dragons his friends, without a doubt. Even the resistant Ryutaro agreed that there was a degree of companionship between all of them, so when Yuto was whining one day about having nothing to do, Hikaru was rather confident in his proposal of taking them to the village to walk around.


	10. Chapter 10

“That’s it.” Ryutaro declared. “He’s trying to kill us.”

“It’s not as though you’re going to be walking around as a dragon.” Takaki pointed out. “We could say that you’re… Friends of Yabu’s from the city or something. Nobody would know.”

“And, if Hikaru’s mom likes us that would be good, right?” Chinen added. With one of the dragons behind the idea, it wasn’t too hard to finally convince the others, agreeing to meet up tomorrow and go into town together. Though Hikaru hadn’t thought about it objectively, positive interactions with the rest of the town could be very beneficial.

Conceptualizing the idea and actually going through with it were two very different things, however. Even Hikaru found himself nervous when they all walked into town square together, the dragons themselves already very tense and stiff.

Yabu noticed the tension in his shoulders, giving him a quick one-armed squeeze and rubbing his back.

“They’re my friends from the city, remember?” He said. “Nothing you have to worry about.”

Thankfully, the first person that approached them was Inoo’s mother, who was all bright smiles.

“Kei, I don’t recognize some of these faces! Who are they?”

“They’re Yabu’s friends from the city.” Inoo said their fabricated identities in such a rehearsed manner that it made Hikaru wince; if Inoo’s mother noticed, she didn’t say anything. “That’s Yuto, and Keito, and Ryutaro…”

He introduced them all, Chinen’s bright smile an extreme contrast next to Ryutaro’s on-edge expression. She smiled at them all though, waving back.

“It’s nice to meet all of you! Enjoy your visit here.”

Ryutaro let out a long breath once she had turned away, jumping when Takaki put a hand on his back.

“Dude.” Takaki said, retracting his arm. “Calm down; your dragon is showing.”

“Where?” Ryutaro turned in a circle, as if expecting to catch sight of his tail dragging behind him. When they all began to laugh he understood that Takaki was referring more to his actions than his physical appearance and he rolled his eyes, punching Takaki in the arm.

Yabu gave a formal tour as they walked, pointing out relevant buildings and waving at people. Hikaru stuck closely behind Daiki though, who was quietly giving his own version of the town to Yamada.

“That bakery there has better pastries, but the one over on that side has better meal-type breads, like rolls and stuff. Not that, you know, cakes and cookies aren’t a fantastic meal already… That rock right there is the one Inoo and I were sitting on when we decided that we were best friends. We were nine, and I broke my arm tripping over that same rock two years later, so I’m not sure what that means about our friendship, but…”

That made Yamada laugh, Hikaru also finding it quite funny. The dragons were introduced to everyone they came across, and before too long the dragons had relaxed enough to introduce themselves.

They all helped out around town, going first to Yamashita and Toma’s farm, helping herd in and feed the sheep. They got lunch for their efforts, and when seen by Inohara and his wife, were asked to do the laundry. They all agreed eagerly, wanting to be as helpful as possible to not only make the visitors memorable, but also make them liked. It seemed to work, if the cookies and cheek pinches Mrs. Inohara gave them were anything to go by.

They nearly lost Daiki and Yamada twice throughout the day, the two in their own little world nearly the whole time. Inoo scoffed the second time they had to be brought back to the group, telling them to just hold hands already, and Yamada did grab Daiki’s hand in an extremely exaggerated and mocking manner, but the next time Hikaru looked at them their hands were still clasped, swinging comfortably, and Daiki had an incredible smile on his face.

As dinner time approached Hikaru invited them all to his house to eat, mainly because they had yet to meet his mother; interacting with her was one of the goals of coming into town after all. They were the one person they desperately needed to impress.

The atmosphere shifted as soon as they entered Hikaru’s house, everyone going from relaxed to tight-lipped and nervous again. It was Hikaru’s turn to return the comforting gesture Yabu had given him earlier, rubbing his back a bit.

“It’s just my mom, it’s alright.”

“She’s the leader of the town, and the one and only person that has the biggest chance of this plan moving anywhere.” Chinen corrected. “She just happens to be your mom.”

“Okay, or don’t listen to me trying to make you feel better, whatever.” Hikaru answered, getting terse laughter in response.

“Hello!” Hikaru’s mother walked into the front room to greet them. Yamada and Daiki dropped hands so fast that Hikaru barely saw it happen, introductions beginning. At least three of them said the exact same thing—“Hi, I’m Yabu’s friend from the city”—before giving their name, which, while it was what they rehearsed, sounded quite fake. Like Inoo’s mom, she didn’t seem to notice either, inviting them to make themselves at home while dinner was being made.

“Well?” Takaki asked as they all took seats in the living room, Yaotome Katsumi leaving to tend to something. “What do you guys think of everything?”

“It’s a nice place.” Keito said after some silent contemplation. “Everyone was very kind.”

His second statement was said in a tone of slight surprise, and Hikaru could tell that all of the dragons had the same thought, as though they had expected some kind of mistreatment. Honestly though, he didn’t blame them.

“I liked the tour.” Yamada said, both Daiki and Yabu smiling at him, Yabu completely unaware of the tour Yamada had actually received. “It was fun.”

“So you guys are glad you came then?” Yabu asked. The nods he got in response made Hikaru smile; thankfully, this hadn’t been a negative experience for any of them.

“I just really expected for someone, somehow, to notice something.” Ryutaro said with a shrug. “I thought it was impossible for us to get through a whole day without anyone figuring out that we’re—”

“Dinner is finished, and it’s on the table.” One of the cooks that worked for Hikaru’s family stuck his head inside the door, causing Ryutaro to clam up immediately. “If you all are hungry, we can begin dinner now.”

With some “yes please”s and “thank you”s, they all stood, Hikaru leading the way to the dining room. Inoo laughed a little as they went, nudging Ryutaro with an elbow. “The day isn’t over yet.”

The walk to the dining room was short because the house wasn’t large by any means, despite belonging to the town leader. What set it apart was the existence of a second story, which many of the other houses did not have. The sparse furniture also gave it the illusion of being larger than it really was, but Hikaru liked it that way.

The first thing that Hikaru’s mother did upon their entrance of the dining room was examine their faces more thoroughly than before.

"Do any of you need coats?” She asked. “It’s quite cold, and those shirts look rather thin.”

“We’re okay, thank you though.” Chinen spoke up for the headshakes of the others. “We’re warm enough.”

She was slightly skeptical but decided not to argue, gesturing to the chairs around the table.

“Please, sit.”

So they did, Hikaru taking his usual seat at the foot of the table. Yamada and Yabu sat to either side of him, the rest filling in, Chinen ending up next to Yaotome Katsumi on the other end. The table was laden down with food, and once everyone had something on their plate, they began eating.

“So.” It was time for conversation to begin. “You’re all old friends of Yabu’s huh? What brings you all down here at this time of year? It’s much too cold for swimming, which is usually what people visit this area for.”

Though all of them had created “how I first met Yabu” stories, a “how long I’ve known Yabu” number, and even a “my favorite thing about Yabu” character trait, none of them had considered coming up with a reason for being here. They just were here, no particular reason or interest in recreational activities. The silence was growing panicked as they waited for someone to speak. Finally, Yuto decided to bite the bullet.

“It’s just been a while since we saw him, that’s all.” Yuto had put a huge smile on his face. “He kept saying he would visit, but he never ever followed through, so we decided it was time to just break down his door instead. And what time of the year is better than the cold months? My mother always says that--”

“And that’s why they’re here at such a time of year!” Hikaru interrupted, wanting to cut off Yuto’s slightly nervous rambling before he went on some useless tangent full of facts they might need to remember. The less they had to lie, the better.

“How do all of you know Yabu? He’s never mentioned anyone else to me, and neither has his father.”

“Really?” Chinen filtered some mock hurt feelings into his voice. “He didn’t mention us, even once? That hurts, Yabuchii.”

Yabuchii. The nickname was rather fitting, making Yabu duck his head and laugh, and Hikaru found he quite liked it.

The “how do you know Yabu?” question was infinitely easier to answer, and it helped get conversation rolling. After four embarrassing childhood tales that had never really happened to Yabu and the dragons, conversation shifted to things like fishing, boat racing, and festivals. Talk lulled eventually, and Hikaru decided it was time to bring up the important topic of the evening: dragons.

“Mom, I have a question.”

Everything stopped as she turned her attention to him, putting another bite of food in her mouth and raising an eyebrow.

“What if dragons weren’t as bad as you thought they were?”

Her chewing slowed considerably, eyes narrowing.

“I don’t understand the question.” She said once she had swallowed. Hikaru wracked his brains, trying to think of a way to say what he wanted without also sounding completely off the deep end.

“What if… What if I had an idea, a way of making the dragons stop attacking us?” That, at least, was an intriguing proposition. Sure enough, she raised an eyebrow and leaned forward.

“I’m listening.”

“It would require some open minded thinking, and cooperation.” Hikaru continued slowly. “I found out that the place the dragons live isn’t very habitable. It’s this barren volcanic island, where they can’t grow food or keep cattle. If we gave them the stretch of land between this town and the city, the area covered in trees, then they could take care of themselves and stop taking from us instead.”

He could tell that he had completely lost any enthusiasm she had had about his idea, her face going back to confused and scrunched together.

“Hikaru, they’re animals.” She said slowly. “They take from us because it’s instinct. They don’t farm because they don’t have opposable thumbs.”

Her last sentence made Ryutaro snort into his drink, trying to conceal laughter, getting kicked by Inoo under the table.

“Mom, I know it sounds crazy, but we’re forcing them to either take our food or starve, so if we just--”

“Are you suggesting we domesticate them?”

“No.” Hikaru said quickly. “No, not at all, but the dragons would like--”

“You know what dragons like? You think you know what they want?”

“Yes.”

She sat, stunned into silence by his flat, definite answer. Finally, she shook her head.

“Hikaru, this is ridiculous. We can’t just invite them to be our neighbors. I want to do the right thing, I always do and you know that, but we can’t just draw a line across the grass and tell them not to cross it. That’s too dangerous.”

“That isn’t how… Mom, the idea of coexistence--”

“It’s too much of a risk, Hikaru! It isn’t even a risk, because we all know how dangerous dragons are. If you’re going to try to give me your ‘all creatures are compassionate, so dragons aren’t really that bad’ speech again, I don’t want to hear it. Because they didn’t ‘accidentally’ take a third of our livestock, or ‘accidentally’ burn down the storage of grain we had saved for the winter. I wish I could think the same way you do Hikaru, but I have people to feed.”

Her tone held a note of finality, but Hikaru wasn’t ready to give up.

“I understand that.” He said. The table was deathly quiet. “I know that, I do, but--”

“I’m done talking about this.” She snapped at him. “I know you were young at the time, but it’s almost like you forget that your father was killed by a dragon when you were seven years old. I have all this responsibility now, and I wasn’t ready for it--I don’t know if I ever will be--but it’s up to me to keep all of these people safe, and I can’t take chances on these proposed solutions.”

Serious territory was always breached when his father was brought into conversation, and Hikaru knew that. He had been an amazing, inspiring person, from what Hikaru had been told, though Hikaru didn’t really know much about the man from his own experience, except for the weathered pair of boots that were still by the front door, and the double swords that Hikaru himself now fought with. Hikaru could see that his mother was upset, but she wasn’t understanding what he was trying to say.

“Nobody else would get hurt, I promise. If you would just listen to me--”

“No.”

Hikaru didn’t realize he had clenched his hand into a fist in his lap until Yabu covered his tense hand with his own, trying to calm him. He couldn’t push the issue any farther, able to see that he had already stretched the line much too far. Instead he just picked up his chopsticks, digging around his plate, not looking at her.

“At least consider it.”

The meal finished in silence.


	11. Chapter 11

“That went well!” Yuto said as soon as they had stepped outside of Hikaru’s house, stretching his arms up and over his head.

“Shut up, Yuto.”

Dinner was over shortly after the argument, and despite how cripplingly awkward the silence had been, Katsumi had still offered all of the guests the option of staying the night. The dragons had insisted that thank you but no thank you, they were fine, and now it was time to walk them back into the woods, Hikaru and his friends bundling up as much as they could and stepping out into the cold night.

“No, I’m serious! A lot of people liked us, right? We proved that we were helpful, and nice, and we got invited to stay at Hikaru’s house, even though the conversation went badly.” Yuto shrugged. “It could have gone a lot worse.”

That was true, but Hikaru couldn’t hold back the sigh in his chest. “I tried.” he said. “If she would just listen to me… If she knew everything that I knew, I think she could come around.”

“Thank you though, for trying. That didn’t seem easy.” Keito said. “Good will come of it, I’m sure.”

They began to walk, trying to find their footing in the dark.

“I don’t think she actually hates dragons.” Chinen said, making all of them give him incredulous glances. “I mean, obviously she doesn’t like us, or anything, but she doesn’t like us in the same way people don’t like earthquakes, or big thunderstorms. She only dislikes us because we’re dangerous.”

“So if dragons didn’t pose a threat anymore, there wouldn’t be a problem?”

Chinen shrugged. “Probably.” He said.

Conversation deteriorated after that, Yabu pressing close to Hikaru’s side and shivering. Daiki’s hand was in Yamada’s again, and Chinen hopped up on Takaki’s back, much to the older man’s surprise. Takaki didn’t dislodge him though, giving him a ride until it was time for them to part ways.

“Will we see you all tomorrow?” Yuto asked.

“I don’t know.” Hikaru answered. “I might try to talk to my mom again, but… You guys are welcome to come into the village, if you want to.”

“Maybe.” Ryutaro said doubtfully. “This experience was pretty stressful.”

“Wimp.” Inoo responded, making Ryutaro roll his eyes. After some goodnights and goodbyes, Hikaru, Yabu, Inoo, Takaki, and Daiki stumbled home in the dark.

It took a few days for the dragons to enter the town on their own. They came in a mass, huddled together like spooked cats, assessing the danger of every person that said hello to them, despite the cheerful and welcome tones accompanying the words. Chinen smiled a bit too widely at everyone, Ryutaro had his shoulders hunched nearly to his ears, and Keito stuck so closely to Hikaru when they met up that HIkaru couldn’t help but smile at him and ruffle his hair a bit.

“You did it!” Daiki exclaimed to all of them, taking Yamada in for a quick hug. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

The grudging silence that followed was enough of an answer. However, once they were no longer alone, the dragons were much more comfortable, able to hold conversation with townspeople on their own. A few days later, the dragons decided that they wanted to visit their own home, to check up on how everything was going. Takaki, Inoo, and Hikaru made sure they were the only ones manning the watchtowers that night, the dragons leaving without incident, returning just as easily two days of Daiki’s pining later.

“Everything fine at home?” Hikaru asked the morning after their midnight arrival.

“Nothing much has changed.” Keito answered. “Everyone is still asleep, and they look healthy. A few of the awake ones asked us where we have been hiding out, but we didn’t tell them it was here.”

“Thanks.” Hikaru answered. As far as the town knew, this winter was like every other, with the dragons fast asleep at home. It was much more relaxed that way. Days passed each other in a similar manner, Hikaru wondering when would be the best time to talk to his mother again. The subject had been lightly touched on once or twice, but Hikaru felt that if he was going to try seriously discussing it again, he would probably have to reveal the truth about his friends, and the thought of it made him nervous.

He was pondering this, sitting by a lit fire outside with Daiki next to him, when Inoo’s voice broke his train of thought.

“What’s with you guys?” He asked, Takaki and Yabu trailing behind him. Hikaru looked over to see that Daiki’s face was twisted with nervousness, a bit of fear mixed into his expression. Hikaru had no idea what it could be about, his confusion only increasing when, as soon as the three newcomers took seats around them, Daiki jumped to his feet.

“I’m going to do it.” He declared. He did not elaborate any further, not even to Takaki’s very mannerly “What the hell?” Instead, he began walking off, the other four following, easily keeping up with his determined steps. They had no idea what his plan was as he made it into the dragon clearing, half of them in human form and the other half not, lounging around.

“Ryosuke!”

Daiki’s shout caught Yamada’s attention and the young man jogged up, concern sprinkled across his features.

“Hey Daiki. What is it?”

Daiki faltered slightly, the determination that had carried him this far faltering, and Hikaru felt Yabu grab on to his shirtsleeve. Hikaru also had a feeling he knew what Daiki was about to do, slightly disbelieving.

“I… I have something I want to say.”

“Sure.” Yamada said, waiting patiently. They had caught everyone else’s attention, getting up and gathering around.

“It’s… I need to know how you feel. About me.”

There was a strangled noise in the background. Hikaru assumed it was Inoo.

Yamada turned pink, his mouth closing tightly but his eyes never leaving Daiki’s face. Daiki took one of Yamada’s hands in his own, the moment breached by another strange noise. This time though, it was Yuto; the dragon had his claws covering his eyes, peeking through as though he almost couldn’t watch. Daiki took a breath, then continued.

“I know how I feel. I know that I like you much, much more than I’m willing to admit, and I know that it doesn’t matter to me that you turn into a dragon or that you usually asleep for three months straight every winter or anything else, all that matters to me is that I have gotten to know you and I like you, so much. I need to know how you feel about that, and me, and everything.”

Yamada was speechless, and Hikaru was too. He had known--everyone had known--that Daiki was crushing hard on Yamada, but he hadn’t realized that Daiki wasn’t simply floating on the idea of a pretty face. Daiki had given serious thought to everything.

“Daiki…” Yamada ducked his head, swallowing. “You’re amazing, you really are, and falling in love with you would be so, so easy.”

Hikaru’s stomach sank. Daiki let his head fall back, dropping Yamada’s hand and wincing.

“There’s a ‘but’ coming, isn’t there? What is it?”

“I’m scared.” Yamada answered.

“Of what?”

“Everything?” Yamada let out a nervous little laugh. “Of what people are going to say. Of what’ll happen to us if this whole plan doesn’t work out. What if someone hurts you, and…”

“First of all, nothing bad is going to happen to me, alright?” Yamada averted his gaze, so Daiki took his hand again, leaning closer and regaining eye contact. “Alright?”

Yamada smiled slightly. “Alright.”

“And people are going to talk no matter what, so let them. If it really bothers you, I’ll dress myself up in fish scales and make some wings out of tree branches and scarves, or something. They’ll never be able to tell the difference.”

That made Yamada laugh, Hikaru breathing a silent sigh of relief. The fear in Yamada’s face was making a retreat but he glanced away from Daiki again, looking down at his feet. Daiki cupped the side of Yamada’s face with one hand, bringing Yamada’s eyes to his again.

“And this will work out. I promise. We’ll all do it together. Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Yamada nodded a few times, how much he had wanted to say the affirmative word evident by the way he said it, and Daiki pulled him in for a fierce hug, Yamada laughing and holding on to him tightly. When Daiki’s arms loosened Yamada leaned back, placing a light kiss on the tip of Daiki’s nose. Daiki just stood there for a moment, looking completely enamored and slightly dazed, everyone bursting into cheers around them.

The cheerful high of Yamada and Daiki finally affirming their feelings lasted overnight, being sobered by the sight of two boats setting sail the next morning, cutting through the ice until they made it into the rolling open water. Before too long, the mist swallowed them and they were out of sight.

“Who is that?” Hikaru asked, squinting through the window. “Mom, did you send some ships out for something?”

“Ships?” She asked back, equally confused. They were gone by the time she got to the window to look, but she shook her head. “No, no one should be sailing anywhere through water like this.”

They headed outside, asking around. People shrugged or shook their heads, nobody giving a straight answer until the came across old man Sakamoto, who was still looking out over the water.

“Oh, that’s Ueda Tatsuya’s little brigade.” Sakamoto said, waving a hand in a dismissing manner. “They have this idea that if they attack the dragons during their winter sleep, they’ll be able to wipe them out. Or at least a safer way to try. They set out at the crack of dawn, all armored up and excited.”

“Are you serious?” Hikaru asked, unable to believe what he was hearing. Sakamoto nodded.

“Personally, I think it’s a terribly stupid idea, but they weren’t going to let anyone stop them, especially the voices of reason.”

“Why wasn’t I informed of this?” Katsumi asked, extremely displeased.

“Because you would have said no to it, probably.” He answered. “I didn’t learn about this little plot until this morning, when Arioka closed his front door a little too hard. It woke me up, being the light sleeper I am, and I asked a few questions before he set out.”

“Arioka?” Hikaru echoed.

“Come on, you know the one.” Sakamoto said. “The father of those two ‘Dai’ boys.”

“Daiki’s dad?” Hikaru’s stomach felt disgustingly unsettled as he broke into a sprint to Daiki’s house, not even knocking on the door when he arrived, wrenching it open. Daiki didn’t look too surprised to see him, already awake and eating breakfast.

“Hey Hikaru.” He had a smile on his face, the same dumb, Yamada-induced grin he had been wearing since yesterday.

“Daiki, where is your dad?”

“My dad?” Though confused by the question, Daiki could see it was important and answered nonetheless. “He went out this morning. Didn’t say where, or why. Did something happen?”

“There… There was this hunting party set up that sailed out on a couple of boats this morning. They’re planning on finding the dragons’ island, and they’re going to kill them in their sleep. Your dad is on one of those ships.”

Daiki’s eyes were wide in disbelief, and at Hikaru’s second sentence he looked physically ill. Finally though he stood, stammering out “We have to do something.”

“Let’s grab the others first.” Hikaru said, Daiki nodding. Upon reaching Takaki’s however, the found out that Takaki’s younger brother was gone as well. When they told Takaki where he was and where they were going, Takaki looked panicked, and Hikaru could understand why. Not all of the dragons were asleep, so regardless of whether or not the hunting party managed to slay anything, there were going to be casualties. The chance of everyone on those boats coming back alive and well was slim.

Once Inoo and Yabu had also been woken up they made a dash for the forest, breathing heavily when they arrived.

“Daiki!” Yamada exclaimed with a smile, hurrying over. Upon seeing the look on Daiki’s face his walk slowed, his smile turning to a frown of concern. “What’s wrong?”

The suggestion of something being wrong this early in the morning made the other four interested and concerned. Daiki didn’t want to say, looking ready to cry, so Hikaru opened his mouth.

“We didn’t know about this and neither did my mother, but apparently some people got this group together and… They decided they didn’t want dragons to be a threat anymore, and since they think all of you are sleeping, they…”

Their horrified expressions made Hikaru trail off.

“No.” Yuto breathed.

“I’m sorry, we had no idea--”

“That doesn’t matter now.” Chinen said shortly. “We have to go.”

The five immediately began preparing themselves for takeoff, Hikaru feeling sick to his stomach.

“Ryosuke, wait--”

Yamada already had his shirt off by the time Daiki had spoken up and reached out to him. Yamada gave him an apologetic expression, pressing Daiki’s hand to his cheek and saying

“I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“My dad left with them. He’s out there.” Daiki said. “I’m sorry.”

Yamada’s face went blank, just staring at Daiki, his eyes searching Daiki’s face.

“Yamada!” Ryutaro broke the moment with an urgent shout before transforming himself and taking flight. Yamada did the same, touching his muzzle as lightly as he could to Daiki’s hand before flying away. Hikaru desperately hoped that it was acceptance of his friend’s apology.


	12. Chapter 12

The next few days were terrible. There wasn’t a single second that passed by where Hikaru’s mother wasn’t angry about the plot that had formed behind her back. Every time Hikaru saw Daiki he was pacing or stressing or on his last nerve, and Hikaru’s mind would not rest, only able to think about what could be happening across the water. Though he was sure he had gone through every possible scenario in his head, no amount of imagination could prepare him for what he saw when the group returned.

It had been three days, only one of the two ship that had set out returning. It hobbled into view around midday, so battered that Hikaru could barely believe it was floating. Nearly everyone on the piece of wood were wet, gummy with dried blood, or burnt somewhere on their skin and their clothes.

“We need a doctor!” Came a despairing shout as soon as the boat was within earshot. Takaki ran off immediately, calling for his father other people ran into the freezing water, helping to pull the boat closer to shore. Hikaru and Daiki ran out together, Hikaru’s heart leaping into his throat when he saw a figure lying across the boat’s wooden floorboards; a large amount of his body was blackened, and there was blood pooling out of his stomach, the water lapping around him dyed red. It was Daiki’s father.

Daiki had fallen silent and still, his face a mask of speechless shock and horror. For a moment Hikaru thought the older man was dead, but upon seeing Daiki’s face Daiki’s father tried to speak, coughing, his abdominal muscles contracting with the action and bring deep red oozing to the surface. That snapped Daiki from his trance, grabbing a hand with both of his own and shushing him.

“No Dad, it’s okay, it’s okay…”

As the boat hit the shore the people closest picked the man’s body up, carrying him to the infirmary. Daiki trailed behind, his fingers bloodied, grip tight on his father’s hand.

“They’ve got you, I’ve got you…”

“What happened?” Hikaru’s mother demanded to know, catching the arm of Kato Shigeaki as he passed her.

“They weren’t all sleeping like we thought they were, Chief.”

Hikaru let out a sigh of relief when he saw Takaki’s younger brother stepping from the boat, a gash across his forehead and a shaken expression on his face, but otherwise seemingly fine. Takaki had returned, bringing Yuma in for a long, tight hug. Shigeaki continued his explanation.

“We found where they live--north and east of here, a tiny, terrible place, I don’t understand how anything survives there--and the entire island seemed really quiet. But as soon as we set foot on the land and drew out our weapons this huge yellow and green dragon burst out at us, screeching and breathing smoke out of its nose and… I’m not sure if it woke others or if others were already awake like that one, but there were about ten dragons that ended coming out. We couldn’t take on ten dragons on our own.”

Yellow and green dragon? That wasn’t the coloring of any of their friends, which made Hikaru feel a slight relief.

“As soon as the dragons showed up at least half of the group wanted to leave, and honestly we should have, but it didn’t take too much longer after that to convince the whole party to leave, and then we got out of there as fast as we could. It was a disaster. We never should have gone.”

Once they made sure everyone was out of the boat, the next place Hikaru and his mother went was the infirmary. The place was packed, everyone either helping tend to the wounded or getting tended to. All of Takaki’s father’s energy was focused on Daiki’s dad, his bed easy to spot by the slight crowd around it.

Both Takaki and Yabu had jumped into the fray with the knowledge they had learned from their parents, and Hikaru found himself following Yabu around, holding things or running off to get him whatever he needed. No one was nearly as injured as Daiki’s father was, mostly cuts and burns and gashes.

Hikaru was in the process of lathering Tsuyoshi’s arm in ointment when Daiki let out a shout from the other half of the room. It sounded like the word “no”, but it was so strangled that Hikaru couldn’t be sure if an actual word had been spoken. He put the ointment down and ran over, knowing what had happened as soon as he was close enough to see Mr. Arioka’s face.

He looked ashen, his muscles slack, eyes closed. One of his hands was still in Daiki’s, and the entire room had frozen, as though the world was holding its breath. The eerie stillness was broken by a gasping, choking sob as Daiki dropped his father’s hand, his body shaking. Daisuke pulled his brother in for a fierce hug, gripping incredibly tightly to the back of his shirt, his own expression distorted into one of intense grief, tears squeezing through clenched eyelids. Takaki’s father took a defeated step back, leaving room for the worst to slip through the layer of denial in Hikaru’s mind, becoming confirmed. Daiki’s father was dead.

There was a ringing sound in Hikaru’s ears, throat constricting, chest feeling tight. Mr. Arioka’s shirt had been cut away from his body, his torso a complete mess of bandages. All of the ones applied had been bled through, oversaturated with deep red, no amount of pressure helping the situation. Clenching his jaw and closing his eyes, Hikaru stood there for a moment, trying hard to swallow. It took some deep breathing but finally he succeeded, pushing the lump in his throat down into his chest.

Putting one foot in front of the other, Hikaru walked back to Tsuyoshi, picking up the ointment container. The room had fallen silent again, Daiki’s yell reverberating between the infirmary walls.

Daiki had been passed into Inoo’s arms, Inoo swaying as he held his friend, murmured comforts sounding choked and thick with tears. Hikaru could feel tears burning his own eyes and he looked to the open door of the infirmary, wanting to leave the room. Instead he saw the dragons standing there, dressed and in human form and peering in. All of them looked extremely worried, and Hikaru’s eyes met Keito’s. Now would not be the time to see any of them, Hikaru giving one slow head shake. Keito understood, tugging Yamada back by the shoulder--the concerned boyfriend was already halfway through the door--and leaving.

Inoo and Daisuke escorted Daiki home, Hikaru and Yabu and Takaki working in the infirmary until nightfall. After what seemed like forever of wrapping bloody bandages and spreading strange concoctions on cuts and burns, everyone had been treated. Hikaru found Yabu seated on a hospital bed and sat next to him, leaning on his shoulder and murmuring an exhausted something about wanting to go to sleep. He was incredibly drained, both physically and emotionally, ready for the day to be done. Yabu indulged him, Hikaru allowing his eyelids to flutter closed, trusting Yabu completely as he led them down the street.

Hikaru didn’t even realize that he wasn’t at home until he was pushed down on to a bed that was not his own, looking around.

“Sleep.” Yabu said. “It’s been a long day.”

He was in Yabu’s room, the lanky young man throwing him a pair of loose pants and a t-shirt. The pants were too long and the sleeves were too snug around the arms but Hikaru couldn’t find the energy to care, snuggling deep in the thick quilts on Yabu’s bed. Yabu climbed in next to him, Hikaru making a disgruntled noise and shifting when Yabu’s cold toes found his ankles. He was glad that Yabu was there though, not wanting to be alone, and drifted off quickly.

It took a few days for the town to calm down after the group’s return. Hikaru found out that despite their tattered appearances, no dragons had actually been slain by the hunting party. Their personal dragon friends did not come into town, and for that Hikaru was glad--he was not up for seeing them, unsure of how he would feel, and he knew that his friends felt the same way.

Two days after Daiki’s father’s death, a funeral was held for him. The boat the hunting party had returned in was patched and filled with an arrangement of grasses, flowers, twigs, and leaves, the body placed in the center and pushed out to sea. His sword was handed to Daisuke, and they watched as the boat slowly disappeared from sight.

Katsumi gathered everyone’s attention, standing with her back to the open water, one lit candle in her hand.

“Arioka was a greatly loved member of this community, an admirable man and a wonderful father, and while we are here to remember him, he is not the only one we are here in remembrance for. Many lost their lives in the event that occurred a few days ago, and we are here to honor them as well.”

Then she began listing the names of those who had not returned, Hikaru not failing to notice that the name of the man that had led the acquisition, Ueda Tatsuya, was called out. By the time the service was over, many in the crowd were in silent tears, breaking apart into small groups for hugs from their loved ones. Yabu, who had stood next to him, turned and wrapped his arms around Hikaru’s neck, pressing his wet face into his shoulder. Soon Inoo came over to them as well for comfort, followed by Takaki. Daiki stood with his mother and his brother, face blank of emotion except for the tears rolling slowly down his cheeks. Hikaru wanted to call out to him but something about it didn’t feel right, instead watching his retreating back as he made his way home.

After they had all taken some time to heal, Hikaru figured it would be good to head over and visit the dragons. He wanted to hear their side of the tale and talk with them about what happened and honestly, they were still his friends and he missed them. His proposition of heading into the woods was agreed to by everyone but Daiki, who none of them had yet seen even leave the house.

“He’s not interested in seeing anyone at the moment.” Daisuke said upon opening the door, seeing their anxious faces. “He would rather be alone right now.”

“Can you tell him we’re going on a walk into the woods, and ask him if he wants to come?” Inoo asked hopefully. Daisuke turned away to do so, but before he had the chance to say anything a voice from inside the house made itself heard, loud and hurt.

“I don’t. I don’t want to come.”

“But Daiki…”

There was no further response, Daisuke apologizing and closing the door. They went without Daiki to the outskirts of town.

The dragons did not walk up to greet them as they approached, each one looking nervous. Keito himself looked as though he was expecting someone to hit him, his entire body tensing as Hikaru walked closer. He did not relax in the slightest until Hikaru pulled him in for a hug, breathing a sigh of relief next to Hikaru’s ear.

“Where’s Daiki?” Yamada asked hesitantly.

“At home.” Takaki answered with a sigh, taking a seat in the grass. Inoo sat down next to him, Yuto following suit. “His father died, so he’s still in mourning.”

Yamada nodded in understanding, also sitting down, and soon they were all cross-legged in the grass. Their side of the story began almost at once, sounding apologetic.

“They hadn’t arrived to our den by the time we got there.” Chinen said. “It is a hard place to find, and since we all go inside the rock when we’re sleeping it looks pretty empty from the outside.”

Nods of understanding followed, Keito picking up instead of Chinen continuing.

“I hoped that they would leave once they stopped their boats, thinking that if we didn’t show any signs of being there that they would go. I tried to tell the two others to just be still and quiet, but as soon as there was a sword out they wouldn’t listen. We didn’t want to get involved but we couldn’t let anyone get hurt either.”

“We tried to do as little damage as possible, but that didn’t end up working too well. The people that came were vicious.” Ryutaro said, the apology in his voice indirect, but honest. “Plus, Shoon and Hashimoto didn’t have the same mindset as we did, so…”

“Yeah, about half of the people that went didn’t come back.” Inoo finished what Ryutaro was implying, the youngest dragon nodding and looking at the ground, pulling at the grass with his fingers.

“We’re so, so sorry.” Yuto said. To Hikaru though, the apology felt wrong. All the dragons had done was defend their family from an unprovoked attack; they weren’t in the wrong.

“It’s not your fault.” Hikaru said. “It shouldn’t have happened. It just shouldn’t have happened.”

After a few solemn moments, Yamada had a question.

“Do you think I could see Daiki? I want to talk to him.”

“Not now, definitely not now.” Yabu said, Inoo agreeing by way of an exaggerated head shake. “We asked him if he wanted to come with us today, and his answer was very clear. "Just… Just give him some time, alright?”


	13. Chapter 13

How much time Daiki needed was unclear, because for the next week and a half nobody saw him. They stopped by his house every day, wanting to talk to him, and every time they were turned away by Daisuke or his mother.

“It means a lot that you’re thinking about him.” The woman said, but her usually bright smile was dimmer, and they thanked her for her time, apologizing for being a daily bother and leaving.

“I’m worried about him.” Inoo confessed. “He’s usually so resilient. I mean, his dad dying was terrible, and I’m not blaming him for being upset, he has every right to be, but…”

“But this isn’t like Daiki.” Takaki finished. Inoo nodded.

“This isn’t like Daiki at all.”

Yamada asked for updates every day, and every day they had none to give. Finally even Hikaru was frustrated, needing to see how Daiki was doing, all of them making the group decision that the next time they knocked on the door, no matter what, they would insist on seeing him.

“I know he doesn’t want visitors, but we’re extremely concerned. Could we please come in?”

If it had been Daiki’s mother that had answered the door they definitely would have been refused, but thankfully it was Daisuke. After a few moments of consideration, he nodded, stepping back and letting them inside. The place was a bit of a mess, dirty dishes piled on the counters and table, the grief palpable in the air.

“He’s in his room.” Daisuke said. They made their way to the tiny bedroom, Hikaru taking a deep breath as Yabu knocked on the door.

“I’m not hungry.”

Daiki sounded almost angry, Inoo letting out a loud sigh as he opened the door.

“Good, because we didn’t bring you anything.”

Upon walking in, Hikaru had to take a step back. The room looked as though it had been through a natural disaster. The bedside table had been kicked to the floor, a ceramic vase next to it in pieces and its flowers strewn around it. The bedding had been ripped from the mattress, the mattress itself askew from the wooden frame of the bed, resting halfway up the wall. Daiki was sitting on one edge of the bed frame, and as soon as they walked in he looked at his feet, letting his hair fall in front of his face.

“I said I didn’t want visitors.”

“We’re not visitors. We’re friends, and we’re worried about you.”

Daiki didn’t respond to Inoo’s words so Inoo took a seat in the rocking chair across from Daiki’s bed, looking at him.

“Listen; what you’re going through is horrible, and I am so, so sorry, but sitting here like this isn’t going to help anything get better.”

“We’re not going to leave you alone to destroy yourself.” Takaki added. “I don’t care how much you think you don’t need us, because we need you.”

“Yamada needs you.” Yabu interjected, and Hikaru took in a sharp breath, glancing in Yabu’s direction, unsure if mentioning Yamada’s name had been a good idea. Daiki turned to them, and Hikaru was almost taken aback by how terrible Daiki looked, how exhausted and devastated and _sad_ he looked.

“I just… I don’t know what to do.”

He honestly seemed lost, tone hopeless. Inoo clapped his hands together, the sound loud and clashingly cheerful.

“Well, right now we need to clean this room.”

And they did, Inoo and Takaki remaking Daiki’s bed while Yabu and Hikaru got to work on the clothes that had been ripped from the closet and thrown across the floor. Daiki stood and watched them for a while before walking from the room. His absence made them all pause, Hikaru considering asking if they should have talked a bit longer, when Daiki walked back in, carrying a new vase of water. He set the bedside table upright, placing the flowers back. Then he began picking shards from the broken vase off the floor carefully, and the cleaning wordlessly resumed.

They cleaned Daiki’s entire house that day, Daisuke also pitching in, and when Daiki’s mother returned with food from the market they helped make dinner, the seven of them all eating together. Dinner conversation got two genuine smiles out of Daiki, Hikaru feeling quite accomplished after the dinner dishes had been washed and they started home.

“You are amazing.” Takaki told Inoo. “How did you know that would work?”

“Why thank you. I didn’t.” Inoo answered. “But cleaning was definitely something that needed to get done, and usually mindless chores help people get their minds off of whatever it is that’s troubling them. When Aki’s pet dove died, she cleaned the house like a maniac. She even swept all the dirt out of the backyard. It kept her from being consumed by all the dark thoughts she’d been having, which was how Daiki looked.”

With Daiki now returning to the world of the living, it seemed as though the whole peninsula was ready to move past the event. Mourning had been done, and people were beginning to look forward rather than back.  
“Hikaru, in all honesty…” It was morning, Hikaru and his mother having breakfast. “Why would you want creatures that cause so much havoc lurking in the woods right outside our home? Look at what happened to us.”

“In all fairness, we did provoke them.”

“We don’t provoke them in the summer.” She pointed out, slightly irked by his comment.

“They need to eat in the summer. Mom, they need help.”

She just gave him a sigh and an apologetic look, not willing to argue. The conversation was about to end, but Hikaru didn't want it to, finally feeling ready to properly talk about it.

“Mom, could you come with me?” Hikaru asked, standing. It was time. “I need to show you something.”

The seemingly random question surprised her, the two of them leaving their breakfast in favor of putting on coats and heading outside. Takaki was out and about, Hikaru managing to catch his arm while passing through.

“I’m going to tell my mom.” He said.

“Now?” Takaki asked, taken aback. Hikaru nodded.

“Could you grab everyone else? We’re going to go ahead.”

Takaki hurried off, Hikaru leading the way out of town.

“Where are we going?” She asked looking around.

“It isn’t much farther.” Hikaru promised, and before too long they had reached the clearing. Yuto saw him first, raising his hand in greeting. When he saw who was with him he froze, quickly getting everyone else’s attention. The five of them lined up, bowing in greeting.

“What are you boys doing out here?” she exclaimed. “And with no shoes on, no less. Are you all crazy? Please tell me you haven’t been sleeping out here, especially when I offered you somewhere to stay for a while.” She turned to Chinen, who was closest to her. “Aren’t you freezing?”

He shook his head with a smile. “No Chief, I’m fine.”

She raised an eyebrow, obviously thinking he was lying. Chinen took one of her hands in his, placing it on his shoulder. Her eyes widened, Hikaru able to see the confusion on her face, knowing she must be feeling the incredible radiating heat that all the dragons had, warming her cold fingers and palm.

“How is that possible?”

Keito gave Hikaru a hesitant look, silently asking if telling her the truth was really what Hikaru intended. When he got a nod in response he cleared his throat, catching her attention.

“Because we’re dragons.”

Her first reaction was similar to Hikaru’s own first thoughts--that they were telling a rather humorless joke. She gave them all nervous smiles, and when all the got in response was an eyebrow raise from Ryutaro, she narrowed her eyes.

“Are you being serious? Why are you being serious?”

“Because we are serious.” Yamada answered with a shrug. “We’re all dragons.”

She edged a little closer to Hikaru, keeping her eyes on the five in front of her and whispering “Why do they all think that they’re dragons?”

Hikaru had to laugh a little bit. “They’re not lying.” he responded. “Mom, you know those dragons I told you about? The ones that saved our lives and flew us back home? This is them.”

Katsumi’s glance back at them was met with proud smiles and slightly puffed-out chests. She was assuming that they were still yanking her chain however, trying to pull some sort of trick on her, and she wasn’t keen on being fooled. She didn’t laugh or smile, instead turning to Hikaru with an exasperated sigh.

“Seriously Hikaru, what is all this?”

As Hikaru opened his mouth to enforce their statement once again, there was the sound of footsteps rushing up to them, Takaki and Yabu and Inoo hurrying up to the group. Daiki hadn’t come along. Hikaru didn’t comment on it.

“She doesn’t believe us.” Yuto reported.

“You told her already?” Inoo asked, sounding surprised.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t have believed a word you said if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.” Takaki said. Understanding what he was suggesting, the dragons all looked at each other, waiting for someone to volunteer.

“I’ll do it.” Yuto finally said, jogging backwards a few paces.

“Hey… Could you put your sword down for a few minutes?” Yabu asked the Chief, gesturing at the weapon on her belt. Hikaru doubted anything dangerous would happen, but taking precautions was never a bad idea.

She didn’t ask questions, wary of what to expect as she placed her weapon in the frosty grass at her feet. Hikaru gave Yuto a nod, and within a few minutes he had expanded completely into his full dragon form, his clothes in a small rumpled pile by his feet. He blinked his huge eyes at them, waiting and watching for a reaction.

“What on earth…?”

Hikaru had already watched someone experience the disbelief and had gone through it himself, but his mother seemed to be more in denial than anyone else Hikaru had seen thus far.

“This isn’t possible. It can’t be, there’s no way he just… Some sort of trick, or I’m asleep, or--”

She was surprised into silence by Yuto jumping into the air, coasting right above their heads and letting out a screech. Then he circled back around, letting a small, controlled burst of flame from between his teeth and touching down behind the rest of the dragons, eyes fixed on the Chief’s. She was staring back, wide-eyed, and Hikaru decided that now might be a good time to pick the sword up and get it out of arm’s reach.

Yuto settled down and got comfortable, lying upright in the grass between Keito and Yamada as Hikaru tried to bring his mother back into a conversation, or, at least, to get her to pick her jaw up off the ground.

“Like we were saying. Dragons.”

“That’s… But… Do all of these ‘friends’ of Yabu’s do that?” She asked, gesturing to Yuto on the last word.

“Do we all turn into dragons too?” Chinen asked. “Yup. We can all do ‘that’.”

“But… I know you boys, you came into town, and helped out with things, and had dinner at my home, and…”

“We do have manners.” Ryutaro said brusquely, apologizing immediately when he realized just how much his tone of voice contradicted his statement. “I mean, we don’t hate you guys, or anything. We would prefer that you didn’t try to kill us, but this world isn’t perfect.”

Hikaru walked forward, putting a hand on Keito’s shoulder. “Keito is the dragon you found me with the day I returned. This is the dragon that saved my life. They don’t honestly want to hurt us, but it’s like Shigeaki said--where they live is terrible for sustaining life. They’re just starving, and like a few days ago, scared and provoked. They want to protect their families, and that’s all you want too, isn’t it? If we could just give them a place to stay, and food to eat…”

Hikaru…” She could tell what he wanted her to say, and was sounding doubtful.

“Mom, Keito’s father is the chief on their island. Between us, we could probably work something out. After their sleeping time is over, we could get together peacefully and talk.”  
She wasn’t as excited as he was about the idea, but that didn’t look like it was because of the idea itself. She looked supremely overwhelmed, eyes not on anyone or anything in particular, and when Hikaru walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, she jumped.

“Are you okay? What do you think?”

“I think I need to sit down.” She responded. “I’m sorry, I have a lot to think about.”

Then she turned, leaving, the dragons calling goodnights to her as she walked away. Hikaru watched her leave, wondering if he should be concerned, and when he turned back Yuto was a person again, slipping a shirt over his head.

“That actually did go better than I expected it to.” Chinen said, Ryutaro nodding in agreement.

“She didn’t try to flay Yuto, which is a good sign.”

“And she didn’t say no to any of Hikaru’s ideas.”

“But she didn’t say yes either.” Keito countered.

“She didn’t say much of anything.” Yuto said. “I kind of feel bad for her. She looked really shocked.”

“Well, think about it.” Yabu said. This is normal for you, but imagine if…” He paused, waving his arms around as he thought. “Imagine if we just told you one day that I could turn into a beetle, or something.”

“Can you?” Yuto asked excitedly, Hikaru laughing at how much his eyes lit up.

“No! At least, I don’t think so.” Yabu said the second sentence contemplatively. “I’ve never tried.”

That garnered some laughter, and they settled into light conversation for a while. Hikaru couldn’t help but notice Yamada looking more and more troubled as they talked, and finally he had to ask about it.

“What is it, Yamada?”

“Does Daiki hate me?”

He sounded desperate, the question slipping through his lips quickly. It was obvious that he had thought about what the answer could be for days, and Hikaru could tell by the look on his face that the answer he had decided on was not a good one. Honestly, Hikaru did not know what to say. Daiki had been feeling better, smiling and talking to them more, but at the same time, he hadn’t agreed to coming with them to see Yamada in weeks.

“I don’t think so.” Inoo said, speaking slowly. He was Daiki’s longest friend in the group, and had the most authority. “He doesn’t associate you specifically with his father dying, but he’s upset with dragons as a whole, and you are a part of that. All of you are.”

Yamada nodded, looking down. He wasn’t saddened by the news, but he wasn’t happy either.

“I miss him.”

“He misses you too.” Yabu said. “I know he does.”

“Then do you think I could see him?” Yamada asked, looking back up. The overall verdict to his question was that they didn’t think it was a good idea, but that didn’t seem to matter because when they began heading back home at dusk, Hikaru could hear footsteps behind them.

“It would be better to wait and let him come on his own time, you know.” He said, turning, making the rest of his friends stop and look behind them. Yamada stepped sheepishly from the shadows.

“I can’t wait any longer.” He confessed. “I have to see him. Even if he yells at me, or sends me back. I have to put my eyes on him for a few seconds. You guys say he’s getting better, but I want to make sure he’s okay.”

It was obvious by looking at Yamada that he wasn’t going to budge, so Takaki tentatively asked “Do you want us to go with you?”

Yamada considered it, then shook his head. “I’ll go by myself.” he said. “I can say the embarrassing stuff easier that way.” The statement was said jokingly, but they could tell he was serious, nodding back. They walked him to Daiki’s front door, giving him wishes of good luck before walking away. Hikaru was able to hear him knock on the front door as they left.

“My god, I’m so nervous.” Inoo was rubbing his hands together. “This had better end well, this has to end well, or…” He didn’t have a threat to fill the end of his sentence with, giving them all anxious looks.

“It’s Daiki and Yamada.” Hikaru reasoned. “They’ve been in love since day one. It’ll be fine.”

That did seem to assure Inoo slightly, nodding as he branched off from the group, turning in the direction of his own home. Takaki left soon after, Hikaru bidding Yabu farewell when it was his turn to go as well.

When he entered his house he was met with the sight of his mother at the dining room table, papers strewn everywhere, her head in her hands. She was talking quietly to herself, but her voice was slow and thoughtful, as though reasoning through something. Hikaru wanted nothing less than to disturb her, but he would have to walk through that area to get to his own bedroom, so instead he turned, walking back out into the night.

It didn’t take long for him to get to Yabu’s house, and Yabu’s older brother answered, looking him up and down. Hikaru felt rather intimidated.

“Could I see Yabu?” He asked.

“Kota?” He asked back. Hikaru nodded, and after another evaluating look, he was let inside.

“He’s in his room.”

Hikaru nodded, thanking him. His knock on Yabu’s bedroom was answered by Yabu with his shirt only halfway on, yanking it down his torso when he saw who was standing in the doorway.

“Sorry, I thought you were my brother.”

Hikaru laughed, shrugging. “Could I sleep here again?” he asked. “I don’t want to bother my mom.”

Yabu was surprised by his question, and Hikaru was more than expecting him to say no. Instead though, Yabu nodded, stepping back and letting him inside.

“How is your mom doing, anyway?”

Hikaru caught the pair of pants thrown to him, shrugging. “I don’t really know, honestly. She’s doing what she said she would do. A lot of thinking. I walked into the house and she was at the table, looking like she just really needs to get some sleep.”

Yabu nodded thoughtfully, not saying anything else and scooting into bed. He opened the covers for Hikaru who slid in, pressing his cold toes to Yabu’s skin intentionally. The yelp the older gave him made him laugh, Yabu threatening to shove him on to the floor, kick him out into the icy wilderness, and one more threat that he couldn’t even get more than three words into because he was laughing too hard. Hikaru scooted closer, though there wasn’t much room--Hikaru had about an inch of space available before he would be falling off the bed. A calm settled over them as the giggles died down and, before much longer, both warm and tired, Hikaru fell asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

“Good morning! The grass is green, the sun is shining, and Daiki is so in love with Yamada that I’m going to burst into flames.”

Inoo’s singing was loud, loud enough to wake him up, but Hikaru was much too warm and comfortable to be bothered into moving a muscle, including the eyelids he would need to open. When a loud, nearly rhythmic stomping sound began though, Hikaru’s curiosity got the better of him and he cracked one eye open.

Inoo had forced Takaki into a one-armed dosey-do, skipping in circles on Yabu’s rug. That was when Yabu began shifting in his sleep, rolling and making a whining noise. Takaki had a look in his eyes that was clearly him begging Hikaru to save him, but instead of doing much of anything Hikaru just raised his eyebrows. Upon waking up more fully, Yabu finally saw the two, letting out a laugh that was coarse with sleep.

“So, I’m guessing Yamada’s talk with Daiki went well then?” Hikaru asked once Inoo had finally released Takaki. Takaki nodded, taking a seat on the floor.

“Yamada spent the night at Daiki’s house, and since you weren’t home and Inoo wanted to go snooping around he burst into my room, literally put my clothes on me, and then we creepily--”

“Totally not creepily.” Inoo corrected. Takaki rolled his eyes.

“Okay, we ‘totally not creepily’ looked in their kitchen window. All four of them are having breakfast together.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Yabu said. “I guess they talked about everything last night, then?”

Inoo nodded, the grin on his face less than innocent. “He stayed the night there, so I can only assume… Though,” He looked at Hikaru and Yabu, who had the covers pulled up to their chins. “You spent the night here, didn’t you Hikaru?”

The insinuation was obvious, and a glance at Yabu revealed a blush on his face that was almost incriminating.

“I just didn’t want to bother my mother!” Hikaru defended. “She was still awake when I came home, and she was doing all this thinking and muttering to herself.”

“Sure, but it’s nearly afternoon.” Takaki decided to join in the teasing. “Late night, late morning?”

“Shut up.” Yabu told him. “Plus, it’s warm in here.”

Inoo grinned, Hikaru barely able to register the smile as a devious one before Inoo launched himself at them, penetrating their bubble of warmth and attacking with his incredibly cold fingers. Yabu let out the same shriek as the night before, Hikaru flailing his legs into the unwanted cold to kick--not too hard--at Inoo’s torso until he fell back onto his butt, laughing at them.

The noise brought Yabu’s mother in, the woman poking her head into the bedroom. She didn’t seem to be at all concerned upon seeing Hikaru in bed with her son, the comforter now a mess, smiling with a pot in her hands.

“Oh, you managed to wake them! Anyone up for breakfast?”

Hikaru definitely was, forcing himself up and away from Yabu’s body heat, the four of them going into the kitchen. She fed her three children and the three extras easily, the quantity of hearty food making Hikaru wonder how Yabu hadn’t managed to put any meat on his bones.

After eating they headed to Daiki’s, wanting to talk to them. The door was answered by a giggling, slightly out of breath Yamada, Daiki running up behind him moments later and wrapping his arms around Yamada’s torso. The show of affection was surprising, especially after it had been gone for so long, but it made Hikaru smile.

They all wanted the entire scoop on what had happened to cause such a successful reconciliation, but the couple were so sickeningly endearing that they felt that their behavior was intrusive, announcing that they would just come back later.

Later came when Daiki decided it was time for Yamada to return back to the rest of the dragons, walking him back home. The four of them caught the two leaving and tagged along. Thankfully, Yuto and Chinen were much more insistent about learning the details, so they all sat and waited intently for the story.

“Well…” Yamada was embarrassed, smiling, fading off and finally glancing at Daiki, wanting him to speak.

“Fine.” Daiki said, nudging Yamada in the elbow with his side and making him squirm. “This little… Cute thing showed up outside my door last night after my mom had gone to bed, and…”

“And Daiki just stood there like a fish, his mouth open a little, and I couldn’t tell if that was good or bad.” Yamada said. “So I just waved, and said hi, and then he hugged me.”

“If you tell them about the crying--”

“Oh yeah! And he cried.” Yamada added, giving Daiki a grin. Daiki gave Yamada a look back, the mock annoyance completely overridden by affection.

“You cried too, alright? Shut up.”

That just made Yamada laugh, Daiki pulling Yamada closer to his side and looping their arms together.

“And then we just had a sleepover.” He finished. He poked Yamada on the nose with his free hand. “Daisuke was happy to see you, you know.”

“I was happy to see him too.” Yamada said. “And your mom, though she doesn’t really look well.”

To Hikaru the entire family looked quite well, but Yamada hadn’t seen them at their lowest, so the progress hadn’t been visible to him.

“Speaking of sleepovers…” Inoo began, glancing at Hikaru and Yabu as if daring them to stop him. When neither of them said anything he continued, the words coming out in a rush.

“Hikaru stayed the night at Yabu’s house.”

“Ooh”s choursed around, Inoo adding happily “We found them in bed together when we arrived.”

That was the actually scandalous piece of information, the group turning to them questioningly, the defense beginning in a flustered mess.

“No, hold on, there’s nothing--”

“It’s not our fault you just burst into my room like that--”

“I didn’t want to bother my mom after--”

“Body heat is important, and--”

“It’s winter, it’s cold, you can’t really blame us for wanting to--”

“Besides, there’s no way Hikaru would want--”

“Wait.” Hikaru stopped Yabu, holding up a hand. “Why did you just assume that I wouldn’t want to date you?”

Yabu didn’t have an answer, just looking at him.

“Or is it that you don’t want to date me?”

That got laughs, Yabu holding up his arms in defense and shaking his head. Hikaru looked at Yabu imploringly.

“What’s so undateable about me, huh? If it’s because I’m shorter than you then I have some bad news--_everyone _is shorter than you. It had better not be about my teeth, because I have it on good authority that my teeth are adorable.”

“They are adorable!” Yabu protested over the laughter. He was smiling, able to tell that Hikaru was joking, but still feeling the need to defend himself. “I like that you're shorter than me. You are dateable. You’re fine.”

“Ooooooh” went around the group again, Yabu putting his hands on his face and telling everyone to shut up--“Especially you, Hikaru”--because he had begun laughing as well. Hikaru met Yabu’s eyes, and even in his pink an annoyed state, he gave Hikaru a smile.

Once the making fun of Yabu was over and done with, Inoo had a question. He eyed Keito and Yuto for a few moments before speaking.

“Have you guys ever, like… Done it in the air?”

“Done what?” Keito asked while Yuto banged his head against his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“It.” Ryutaro said slowly, enunciating clearly and using a hand gesture. Then he whirled on Inoo. “Who the hell asks that kind of question?”

“I’m curious!” Inoo exclaimed defensively, voice rising at least an octave and a half. “They don’t have to answer. It just seems like a weird experience.”

“It sounds terrifying.” Takaki added, nodding seriously. Keito understood the insinuation at that point, sitting as still as possible, just blinking.

“Well?” Inoo tried again. Yuto still had his face buried in Keito’s shoulder, not looking too keen on answering, so after a few moments Keito spoke up, eyes staying insistently on the ground.

“We’ve never done… In the air, we… no. No.”

It wasn’t a very coherent attempt but it got the answer across, Inoo nodding contemplatively. Hikaru however, had a much more innocent question for the two.

“How long have you guys been together? he asked. They were relatively young, but reacted to each other like it had been years and years since they had begun a relationship.

“Uh…” That idea was reinforced by how Keito had to glance at Yuto, thinking.

“A long time.” Chinen said helpfully. “They’ve been inseparable since they could begin walking, I think.”

Yuto shook his head. “No, I didn’t meet Keito until the first flight camp, so… We fell in love sometime after we were six years old.”

“I didn’t know you could find your soulmate at six.” Takaki remarked, sounding impressed. The group nodded, and the word ‘soulmate’ put suppressed smiles on both Yuto and Keito’s faces.

“After that they were friends for a stupidly long time.” Ryutaro chimed in. “I actually ended up having to tell Yuto that he was insanely in love with Keito, because poor Keito was trying to get the message across, but Yuto was being painfully dense. It was cute and immensely frustrating at the same time.”

“If we’re asking Yuto and Keito questions, can I go?” Chinen asked, raising his hand. Yuto sighed, but he leaned his head on Keito’s shoulder, the two waiting expectantly.

“Is Keito a good kisser?” Chinen asked. Keito was surprised, but Yuto’s face lit up, and simply by the way he lifted his head off of Keito’s shoulder put a look on Keito’s face that said he knew he was about to be embarrassed. Yuto took a moment to collect himself, then said

“Why do you ask?”

Chinen shrugged. “I don’t know.” He waved his hands in Keito’s direction. “Something about him seems like it would be awkward.”

“You just gestured to all of me.” Keito remarked, but his comment was ignored.

“Oh, no. Well, a little bit at first, actually.” Yuto answered with a nod, thinking and putting his finger on his chin. “I think I ended up having to make the first, second, and third moves.”

“Well Keito was shy about it, remember?” Yamada pointed out. “They didn’t even act like a couple around us for a while, as if we didn’t know that Keito had already figured out how sensitive Yuto’s neck is.”

“How do you know that?” Yuto asked indignantly, shocked and bright red. Yamada just grinned, sharing a look with Chinen, who began to giggle.

“To answer your question, you little snot head; yes, Keito is quite fantastic at kissing.”

The group looked skeptical, so Yuto began building his case.

“First of all, okay, look at his lips. Right?”

“Yuto…” Keito gave a light whine, looking rather pained.

“Second, he can use his teeth, which I know sounds weird, but.. Sometimes he grabs my hair and does this thing with his tongue and I…”

Yabu gave a cough, Yuto suddenly being reminded where he was and who he was talking to, trailing off with pink cheeks. Keito’s face was an unsalvageable tomato color.

Ryutaro clapped his hands together in the silence that followed. “Well. Now that we’ve all gotten a sneak peek into Yuto’s secret fetish diary, does anyone else want to share?”

Takaki snorted in amusement.

“Neck kisses are nice.” Yamada said. “I’m in agreement with Yuto on that one.”

It wasn’t until Hikaru noticed Daiki’s face, and the fact that Yamada was giggling at him, that he realized that while Yamada could have been telling the truth, what he had said was more of a way to tease Daiki than anything else.

Ryutaro looked surprised that someone had taken up his rhetorical question, gesturing at the group to continue.

“Being cuddled with is my favorite thing.” Chinen said happily, his statement rather evident by the way his entire body was practically in Ryutaro’s lap.

“Hey now, that’s just adorable. It doesn’t count.” Takaki protested.

“I’m in agreement with Yuto too.” Inoo said.

“Neck kisses?” Yabu asked. Hikaru found himself wondering if Yabu liked having his neck kissed.

“No; knowing how to use teeth properly. And hair pulling.” He gave a mortified Yuto a thumbs up. Hikaru began to feel that not only was this conversation breaching rather dangerous territory, but he was learning way too much about his friends.

“So, Daiki, “ he began loudly. “We told my mom about the ‘dragons can shape shift’ thing. It was only a slight fiasco.”

“Oh, really?” Daiki sounded surprised. “How did that go?”

“She was…” Hikaru didn’t quite know how to put it. “She was surprised, mostly.”

“She really, really thought we were a little on the crazy side at first.” Ryutaro said. “We might have been a little too blunt. Hey Chief, we’re shape shifting beings that can turn into your worse nightmare.”

“We didn’t say it like that.” Chinen countered. “But yeah, she didn’t think we had our heads screwed on straight. And then Hikaru backed us up, which was when she thought we were pulling a prank on her.”

“And then I transformed!” Yuto said proudly.

“We took her sword away first.” Yamada supplied.

“And I flew around a little, blew some fire and made noises, just so she could tell it was the real deal.” Yuto continued. “She never did try to hurt me, which was good. After that we explained about how all of us were dragons, and how we didn’t want to hurt humans and everything… She was overwhelmed by the time Hikaru tried to tell her the whole plan.”

In retrospect, he probably should have waited after telling her about the dragons to bringing up his plan again. She needed time to think over what she had seen first.

“What all did you tell her?” Daiki asked. “The thing about the dragons all living here?”

Hikaru nodded. “That they could move into the woods and build homes and stuff.”

“And?” Daiki asked hopefully. “How did she take it?”

“She didn’t sound too excited.” Chinen said. Daiki’s face fell.

“She wasn’t completely against it though.” HIkaru said quickly. “Thinking about what happened recently it’s just bad timing, that all. “

By the looks on everyone’s faces, Hikaru immediately regretted bringing the event up.

“If she didn’t say no and she didn’t say yes, then what did she say?” Daiki asked. “Did she say anything?”

“She said she had to think about it.” Yuto answered, sighing. “And that she needed to lie down. Which I understand and everything, but winter is going to be over soon, isn’t it? If we don’t get this plan in motion soon, everyone is going to be awake and hungry and it’s going to be too late.”

Yuto had a very, very good point.

“I’ll talk to her soon.” Hikaru promised. “I just don’t know how much time she wanted. I haven’t really seen her.”

They nodded, and the group fell silent.

“What is it, Daiki?” Inoo asked. Daiki looked slightly guilty, as though he wanted so say something but was unsure if he should. Hikaru understood why he felt that way when he opened his mouth.

“I’m glad you told your mom, Hikaru, because… I already told Daisuke.”

“What?!” Yamada was the most surprised by that information. “When?”

“A few days after the funeral service. He asked me where you were, and why I hadn’t seen you, because he knew--even if I didn’t-- that you would make me feel so much better. He even went out in town a few times to look for you, but he couldn’t find you anywhere. I was going to say that you had left town or something, but… Everything else came spilling out instead.”

“How much is ‘everything else’?” Takaki asked.

“Just that they’re dragons, and that they’re not vicious. Stuff like that.”

“And he believed you?” Ryutaro was surprised. Daiki nodded.

“He knows when I’m lying, and I wasn’t.”

“So… Wait, wait.” Yamada looked incredulous. “When I was over there today, for breakfast and everything, he already knew?”

Daiki nodded, giving Yamada a nervous grin.

“And he still liked you fine, didn’t he? It’s okay.”

“I…”

Yamada was speechless, Daiki smiling and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. There was one less in-law for Yamada to worry about, the event feeling like an uplifting little feeling. Hikaru used the optimistic news as a motivation to talk to his mother when he got back home. She was still at the table when he returned home, but she did look like she had slept since last night, though not much.

“Hi Mom.”

She waved in response.

“How are you? You look tired.”

“I am.” She said with a nod.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come home yesterday; you looked like you didn’t want to be bothered.”

“It’s alright.”

Hikaru got up, going into the kitchen to get some lunch, going over what he wanted to say in his head. When he got back she was gone, the door to her office closing. Hikaru decided that it would be better to wait a few days longer.


	15. Chapter 15

Unsure of what to do, Hikaru didn’t want to stay in his house and just pace around, so he headed outside. It was snowing, and before Hikaru had time to regret his decision and go back inside his arm was grabbed by Inoo, Yabu standing behind him.

“I want to talk to Daisuke about the coexistence plan.” Inoo declared excitedly.

“Why?” Hikaru asked, feeling doubtful.

“Since he already knows about the dragons, so he should know, don’t you think? He’s smart, he could help us out.”

Inoo did have a point and there wasn’t much else to do, so the three of them headed to Daiki’s house. The little family were all sitting in the living room together, and all of them froze upon seeing Daiki’s mother, not expecting her.

“Maybe we should come back later?” Yabu proposed, but Inoo wanted to do this now.

“Daiki! Daisuke! Let’s go to my house!”

“Why?” Daiki deadpanned. He was the one that had opened the door for them, giving Inoo a look. “I love you man, but either come inside or leave. You’re letting all the cold in.”

“It’s about the dragons.” Inoo hissed. That got Daiki’s attention.

“Is something wrong?” He asked. Inoo shook his head quickly, but mentioning them was enough to have Daiki look back inside and ask Daisuke to come with them to Inoo’s. Aki was there but Inoo shooed her out, and after they explained their whole plan to Daisuke, he just raised an eyebrow at them.

“I don’t want to discourage you or anything, because I’m all for what you want to do, but your whole plan is revolving around the idea that the dragons will be desperate to come here once the option is opened up. They don’t like us, right? Especially after that group that tried to kill them all.”

Unfortunately, Daisuke had a point. There were only two other dragons awake, but if those two told anyone--Keito’s dad, particularly--about the attack that had occurred, there was a little to no chance that the dragons would want to extend any trust to them.

“We could go and talk to them.” Yamada proposed once they had shared Daisuke’s thought with the rest of the dragons. That was a scary thought, but the others backed it up immediately.

“I have been wanting to go back and talk to the two of them, but with Hikaru’s mother just now finding out, I wasn’t sure when it would be a good time to go.” Keito said.

“How about we all go together?” Chinen asked. “It could be fun.”

“I don’t know Chinen, we would have to fly them there and I don’t know if Inoo would be able to handle that.” Ryutaro said, a teasing smile on his face. Inoo rolled his eyes, aiming a punch for Ryutaro’s head. Ryutaro ducked him easily, laughing, and Inoo told him to shut up. The idea was put into motion, and after a bit more planning they all agreed to set sail, so to speak, at dawn the next day.

The five of them spent the night at Inoo’s house, waking up entirely too early, packing a basket lunch and going out to meet the dragons. Despite agreeing to get up early, their friends were all asleep in a little pile when they arrived.

It was actually hard to wake up a few of them. Ryutaro sat up fast and hit his head on Inoo’s forehead, the older man cursing and shoving him back down. Yuto woke up easily, rather bright-eyed, asking Hikaru for help on waking up Keito, who had become an unshakable lump on the ground.

Yamada did his best to get his eyes open but was extremely drowsy, slumping on Daiki’s shoulder instead.

“Come on.” Daiki said, the smile in his voice evident. “We’re going on a trip today, remember? It’s going to be exciting and fun.”

Yamada hummed a little in agreement, pushing his nose into Daiki’s neck. Daiki laughed, kissing the side of his head.

Finally, Keito was up, blinking and slightly confused. Yuto beamed at him.

“Morning!” He said. When everyone was in an aware state they ate breakfast, wanting the dragons to be fully awake before they tried flying anywhere. Once they were done eating it was time to go.

Hikaru loved flying. Being up above the clouds, with the crisp winter air tangling his hair and biting at his nose and cheeks, was the best feeling in the world. His entire body felt as though it was floating, comfortable enough in the air to not have to worry about falling and simply being able enjoy the ride.

Daiki and Yamada were next to Yabu and Yuto, close enough for both the dragons and the dragon riders to carry conversation. Yabu looked rather natural on Yuto’s back, both of them long bodied, unlike Takaki and Chinen. Chinen was flying at least a head and tail above everyone else, and Takaki looked slightly alarmed by the altitude he had decided to fly at. Takaki’s uneasy face was nothing compared to Inoo, however.

Ryutaro was having too much fun, as he usually did. He would fly up too high, then dip downwards, getting nearly vertical. It made Hikaru anxious to watch, though he knew nothing bad would happen to Inoo while Ryutaro had him. Besides, the shrieks that came from Inoo’s mouth were just about worth it and by the end they were all laughing at him. They would also all get hit by Inoo when they landed, if the man’s death threats were anything to go by.

He didn’t have enough time to whack them all though, because almost immediately after they had touched the ground two unfamiliar dragons rushed out at them. Keito and Yamada had already transformed back, but Ryutaro let out a roar, startling the two approaching and spreading his wings. Inoo was completely hidden from sight by the action, the rest of them dodging behind him. Keito hurried up to meet the unknown dragons, and while the greeting sounded more welcoming than threatening, Ryutaro’s reaction suggested that they weren’t taking any chances.

“Okay… Let’s not die.” Takaki said under his breath. As soon as Yuto and Yamada were dressed they hurried out to where Keito was standing, Chinen also in the process of changing back. Ryutaro hadn’t moved.

“They’re friends, I promise.” It was Yuto’s voice. “Please… Don’t. We have to talk to you.”

Silence. A snort from one of the dragons. Hikaru was too afraid to stick his head out and look but Yabu wasn’t, peeking under Ryutaro’s wing.

“Who are they? Why are they here?” The questions were asked by an unfamiliar voice, and Yabu gasped, jumping back.

"What?” Hikaru hissed, concerned for him. Yabu just shook his head.

“Hasshi! Shoon!” Chinen had a smile on his face as he also went out to greet the others.

“Hi Chinen.” The greeting was said by another unknown voice, suggesting that both of the dragons were now human.

“We brought them here because we need to talk.” Keito said, and Hikaru felt quite a bit safer now that nobody unfamiliar was big and scaly. Ryutaro seemed to share that sentiment, shrinking down in front of them. Before too long, twelve people were standing on the shores of the rocky island, staring at each other. Hikaru looked around.

The ground wasn’t sandy or grassy like back home; the water washed up on dark, cracking igneous rock, and to their right a huge mountain rose up, tapering to a point at the top. Most of the island was the mountain, Hikaru able to see little alcoves in the mountain’s sides. The whole place was much smaller than he had imagined.

“Who are they?”

The question was asked by the same voice that had asked it before. The young man had black hair and rather large eyes, his shirt balled up in one hand, putting both well-formed muscles and an ugly scar on display. The wound ran from below his collarbone to up his shoulder and out of sight, but it looked old by nearly a year. He was staring at Yabu’s face, and Yabu was making a very firm point of looking at the ground. Hikaru remembered his gasp from only a few minutes before, his concern now multiplying a tenfold, mixing with curiosity.

“Introductions?” Yamada prompted, walking over and standing next to Daiki. Daiki took that as his cue to begin, giving an experimental smile and a wave.

“Hello, I’m Arioka Daiki… Sorry for the intrusion.”

The dragons were much more relaxed about the situation than Hikaru felt he and his friends were, and that was all the more obvious by the short forwards they gave, saying their names before clamming up. The two new dragons said their names next, the one with the scar Yamashita Shoon, and his friend Hashimoto Ryosuke.

“We’re here because… Actually, Hikaru, do you want to explain?” Keito offered, gesturing for him to go ahead.

“You’re already on a first name basis with these strangers?” Hashimoto asked, taking a few steps towards them. He did not sound friendly at all and both Ryutaro and Yamada reacted; Yamada grabbed Daiki’s hand, while Ryutaro’s gesture was much less subtle, standing completely in front of Inoo again.

“What is it with you?” Inoo asked, voice loud and annoyed. He was either completely oblivious to the mood of the situation or was trying to diffuse it; Hikaru couldn’t tell which. “Do you think I can’t protect myself?”

“I know you can’t protect yourself.” Ryutaro retorted. “I mean, you might stand a chance if you were the same height, though probably not; even Chinen could pummel the crap out of you.”

“You are so full of it!” Inoo told Ryutaro. “You enjoy listening to me scream, you’re way too rough when I’m riding you--on purpose, I might add--and I don’t--”

“I don’t know what you guys got up to while you were gone, but if you two are talking about sex I am literally going to rip my ears off.” Hashimoto had become completely disarmed by the argument taking place, now eyeing Ryutaro and Inoo skeptically. The two turned away from each other and stared at him, looking completely mortified.

“This guy is way too gross.” Inoo said quickly.

“He screams like a girl! If we had sex I would probably go deaf.” Ryutaro said. Inoo let out an indignant, rather offended noise, about to retort with something scathing when Yabu rose his voice.

“Can we remember why we’re here, please?”

He was still incredibly tense and they all listened to him, Hikaru deciding to begin.

“We wanted to talk.” Hikaru answered. “We have things we want to talk about.”

“That was incredibly specific.” Hashimoto said.

“We’re from the peninsula not too far from here, and--”

“If this is another attack, I swear--”

“It’s more of a negotiation.”

The word stopped both of the dragons, who had both looked displeased at the sound of Hikaru’s home.

“Negotiation?” Shoon asked. Hikaru let out a relieved breath.

“Yes.” Hikaru said with a nod. “We have this idea, and we think it could work out really well for everyone, but your people are a huge, huge part in making it successful.”

They gave him expectant looks, waiting for him to continue.

“It’s about getting you guys off this island--”

“Of course--”

“--and on to the land we live on, so you can have a place to sustain yourselves” Hikaru threw a pointed look at Hashimoto as he finished his sentence. The dragon had obviously not expected what he said, ready to hear something else entirely, slowly letting his mouth close.”The problem of you all not having a proper place to live, and my people being attacked because of it… It’s all solvable.”

“How?” Shoon asked. “You said we would be living near you? I don’t think that’s possible.”

“It wouldn’t be easy.” Hikaru allotted. “It would take a lot of changes of heart, but…”

“People will think that we’re freaks.”

“We don’t think you’re freaks.” Takaki said. The force behind his voice surprised Hikaru; Takaki had been the one with the strongest aversion to dragons before meeting any of them, and Hikaru hadn’t been sure if his change of heart applied to all dragons, or just the ones he had spoken to.

“My brother doesn’t either.” Daiki pitched in, making Shoon and Hashimoto eye him suspiciously.

“How many people know?”

Hikaru thought for a moment. This group meant five, plus Daisuke and his mother… “Seven.”

“Who?”

“Us, Daiki’s brother, and my mom.”

“Your mom?” That was easily the strangest for them. “Why does your mom know?”

“She’s the chief of our village.” Inoo answered. “We’ve been working on this idea all winter.”

“Could someone please explain what this idea is?” Shoon asked, and they did, taking seats and explaining every part of it. They would still be living separately, able to put up fences or not communicate or whatever they wanted, as long as the dragons had somewhere to live and the attacks would stop. That was the immediate concern. Everything else could happen over time.

“And… You really think this would work?” The skepticism coming from the two was palpable.

“Why wouldn’t it?” Daiki asked. “There’s no reason for it not to, is there?”

“In theory it’s great, but you haven’t thrown any social aspects in. Prejudices, for one. We don’t like you all that much. No offense.”

Takaki rolled his eyes, and Hashimoto caught the gesture. “See? You don’t like us either. I can’t see an entire town reacting well to us setting up shop right next to their homes.”

“I know some people that would not only react well, but would help.” Yuto said. Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief, glad a dragon had decided to step up in their defense. “They’re good people over there. We’ve walked around and talked to them. The Chief even invited us to dinner, and offered to let us stay in her home. She’s a good woman, and she leads good people. If she asks, they’ll be happy to help us.”

They didn’t argue with that, and Hikaru decided that it was time to bring up the touchy part of their visit.

“There is one little timing issue though.” He said. “It’s about that attack that almost happened.”

Hashimoto let out a strong breath of air from his nose. Hikaru almost saw smoke.

“Do you think you could maybe… Not mention it to everyone else when they wake up?”

“Why not?”

"Well… If your leader hears about any attempts on his life, he wouldn’t exactly be open to any types of meetings or negotiations, would he?”

They understood what he meant, and thankfully, gave him nods in response. There was silence after that, Hikaru out of things to say, the twelve of them glancing around at each other. Suddenly, Chinen jumped to his feet, trying to pull Takaki up as well. The attempt didn’t quite work, Takaki’s arm extended up over his head and his torso stretched awkwardly, giving Chinen a look.

“What was that?” he asked. Chinen sighed.

“If we’re done talking, let’s go! We’re giving you guys a tour, right?”

Hikaru hadn’t known that was going to be part of the visit but the idea of a tour was an exciting one, making him stand up. Soon, the whole group was on their feet.

“We’ll leave you guys alone, I guess.” Shoon said. Hikaru wanted to tell him that there was no need, and Yuto appeared to be in the middle of doing that when Shoon transformed. He was all light greens and yellows, and within moments he had flown off, a red Hashimoto following soon after.

“They could have stayed.” Yuto said, but there wasn’t much that could be done now, so they just shrugged and began making their way towards the mountain. Hikaru caught hold of one of Yabu’s arms, pulling him to the back of the group.

“What?” Yabu asked, confused and almost offended by the action.

“Are you okay?” Hikaru had to ask. “You saw the dragons when we first got here, and… You got all weird. Are you afraid of them, or something?”

Yabu opened and closed his mouth, surprised that Hikaru had noticed and unsure of that to say. Then he shook his head.

“No, it’s just… I’ve met Yamashita Shoon before.”


	16. Chapter 16

Of all the things Hikaru thought could be bothering Yabu about the two new acquaintances, that was the last one he expected, pausing.

“How? When?”  
“Well..” Yabu had to think back. They had begun to lag behind the group, but Hikaru didn’t really care. “The first time the dragons came into the town after I moved there, I had never actually seen a dragon before. Mom was really paranoid about us running into one at some point, me and my siblings have all had lessons with weapons since we were old enough to swing them around. I’d heard stories about dragons, and seen wounds that my father had treated, and read about them in books, so I thought I’d be ready, but…” He shook his head. “When I actually saw one for the first time, I had no idea what I was supposed to do.”

Hikaru nodded. He’d experienced that as well. Standing in front of a dragon for the first time, being able to see just how powerful of beasts they were first hand, was terrifying, watching the sun-reflected scales and thorn-sharp teeth with a sort of blank-minded awe.

“There was this dragon that had gotten itself trapped, wrapped up in bushes with a collapsed fense fallen on it. It was definitely scared, by the way it was floundering around, and so was I, but I figured that this was my chance. I was going to kill a dragon.”

“I’m guessing that didn’t happen?” Hikaru prompted. Yabu shrugged.

“I slashed at it, but there wasn’t a dragon under my sword anymore. It was Yamashita Shoon, and that scar on his shoulder… It’s from me. I guess he had turned into a person in an attempt to free himself.”

Hikaru was stunned. “You already knew dragons could transform?”

Yabu shook his head. “I had no idea what I’d just seen, and I was positive it couldn’t be real, especially since the fence that had fallen on him was as good as new the next morning. By the time we met Keito and Yuto, I had managed to convince myself pretty thoroughly that it was a dream. When I found out it was real I started thinking about it again, and just now… I think he recognized me.”

Yabu did look scared of Shoon, and scared of what Shoon might think of him. And Hikaru was pretty sure that Yabu was right; Shoon had kept looking at Yabu, probably trying to place him.

“He didn’t seem angry at you though. You were both panicking, and he can’t blame you for that. Don’t worry too much about it.”

“Come on guys!” Inoo shouted, turning around to yell at them. “Stop making out and get up here!”

The jest had its desired effect, Yabu’s face turning four shades darker pink in under three seconds as he ran forward to land a punch on Inoo’s tiny arm. Laughing, Hikaru jogged up after him. They were all waiting around what seemed to be an entrance to the tunnel under the mountain, not wanting to go in without them.

As soon as they stepped inside, the temperature increased drastically, the air smoky and stuffy.

“It’s warm in here.” Takaki remarked.

“Well, think about how hot I am--body temperature-wise, shut up, Daiki--” Yamada said, releasing Daiki’s hand, who looked ready to comment “Then multiply it by… Fifty? Sixty?”

There were only two dragons asleep near the central opening. They were both huge, one of them a light pink color with white points. The pink one had gargantuan wings, its muscular frame matching Keito’s own under scars littering its body, horns, and a long, spiked tail. The second dragon had more of Keito’s individual features, its entire body smooth and royal blue, its ears, muzzle, and even flap around its neck reminding Hikaru very much of their bright blue friend.

“Uh... “ Keito gestured awkwardly. “Those are my parents.”

“Is that huge blue one your dad?” Takaki asked, Yuto’s laughter giving the answer way before Keito had time to shake his head.

“That’s my mom, actually. It’s okay; a few people have made that mistake.”

“Why are they so far away from each other?” Yabu asked, pointing. “Trying to take up space?”

Keito shook his head. “They sort of hate each other, actually.” He shrugged. “It’s okay though.”

Looking as though he regretted bringing that up, Yabu edged closer to Hikaru as the group made their way past the huge, sleeping creature, making their way into a little alcove on the left.

“This is where I live.” Chinen said happily. Inside were three others, and he pointed as he spoke their names.

“Mom, Dad, and my big sister, Saya.”

Saya was bigger than Chinen in her dragon form, but not by much. In fact, Chinen’s entire family was rather small, much to Hikaru’s amusement. In a corner of their little niche was a woven basket, and inside it a pile of golden items, from pebble sized chunks to jewelry to pieces that Hikaru guessed were about as large as his fist. It looked like real gold, and it made sense if it was. This was the treasure-hoarding that Yuto had talked about before.

Next was Yuto’s little gap in the rock, and he gave his sleeping little brother a hug before they left. Yuto’s home was more cluttered than Chinen’s was, but it also seemed more more homely, with hand-knitted blankets hanging on nicks in the walls. Nakajima Raiya looked a lot like Yuto did, just with less bright yellow and more orange.

Ryutaro didn’t hug his brother like Yuto had, but it was obvious by the way he talked about him what they were very close. There were two things that surprised Hikaru about their home; there were four dragons lying on the floor instead of the three that Hikaru was expecting, and that all five of the dragons looked nearly identical. They all had varying shades of the red color that Ryutaro had, with similar stocky builds and blocky features. The lightest of them all was Nastune, the youngest one, Ryutaro said, and his only sister. Shintaro looked the most like his brother, his big and strong body even bulkier than Ryutaro’s own.

The last place of residence in the cave they decided to visit was Yamada’s home. It was crowded in there. Yamada had two sisters, Chihiro and Misaki--older and younger, respectively--which the floor space did not seem quite big enough for.

“Come on, I want to show you my room.” Yamada said excitedly, taking Daiki by the hand and dragging him to the right, where it looked like a small tunnel led away from the main room. Some of the little caverns had tunnels like that and some of them didn’t, Hikaru had noticed. Takaki went to follow after them, not noticing that the offer of an extra tour had not been extended to the group; Inoo quickly grabbed him by the arm, shaking his head.

“If you guys aren’t out of there in five minutes, we’re going on without you!” Chinen called. He got silence in response, but after five minutes had passed the two reappeared, and the tour continued. They made their way around, pointing out things they deemed important or things people asked about, eventually making their way back out and into the big space they were in before, where Keito’s parents were lying.

“This is where we hold our town meetings and stuff. It’s big enough to fit everyone, as long as we’re in our human form.” Keito said, gesturing.

“Is human the default state when you’re home?” Yabu asked.

“Usually.” Yamada answered with a nod. “Mainly because there’s not enough room. I like being a dragon though. I’m all beautiful and powerful that way.”

Daiki leaned over and whispered something that made Yamada smile and bury his head in his boyfriend’s shoulder. It wasn’t too hard to guess about what had been said, and everybody noticed, Inoo saying a very loud “Oh my god.” They exited the cavern after that, and after a little walk around the island--it wasn’t a very long walk, taking one stop to look at an area where they had once tried to grow food--the tour was over. The more that they were there, just looking around, strengthened Hikaru’s resolve. The dragons had tried as hard as they could to make a home for themselves, but it simply wasn’t working out. They each had little spaces to call their home, but there was no food, no water, and no room for them all to live comfortably. Even if they did have their own resources, they would eventually run out of space. They had to get off the island.

After that, it was about time to go back home. They had eaten lunch as they walked around, and by now the sun was setting. They didn’t run into any trouble flying back, Yuto just about blending in with the sky as they landed. Ryutaro seemed to have taken Inoo’s earlier outburst to heart; Ryutaro’s flying had been surprisingly smooth and his landing very gentle, lowering his body and waiting patiently for Inoo to get off on his own. Inoo hopped off easily, and when he did he raised an eyebrow at Ryutaro.

“That was a boring ride back.” Inoo declared, a small smile on his face.

“There’s just no pleasing you, is there?” Ryutaro asked back. Inoo shrugged.

“I’m high maintenance.”

“That’s for sure.” Takaki said, rolling his eyes and stepping off Chinen’s back. As per usual, Yamada was the last one still in dragon form, but as per usual, it wasn’t his fault; Daiki had let out a yell and tackled him. Well, he had tried. Yamada had barely moved until he realized what Daiki was trying to do, giving an exaggerated squawk and falling to the ground. Daiki laughed at him and they rolled in the grass together, Daiki getting lick on the face and letting out a surprised shout.

“Alright lovebirds, break it up.” Hikaru said, waving a hand. He wanted to go talk to his mother before his resolve to do something weakened.

“Hey, only one of us has wings.” Daiki countered, resting comfortably against Yamada’s warm chest.

“Whatever, pigeon boy.”

Even Yamada laughed at that, a deep chuckle rumbling in his chest and making Daiki give him an indignant look. His friends looked like they also wanted to stay with the dragons so Hikaru said goodbye, heading home.

His mother looked much more well rested when he walked in, saying hello to her.

“Where have you been?” She asked.

“We took a trip to dragon island.” He answered. She met his eyes at those words, surprised. “It’s terrible over there, Mom. They can’t grow any food. There’s no water, there’s no room. They’re sitting over a volcano that they say is inactive, but the ground was extremely warm the entire time we were there. They’ve tried really hard to make a home out of an inhabitable place, but they need our help.”

“I want to help them. I do.” She was telling the truth, but the apologetic tone in her voice made it obvious that a contradiction was coming up. “But Hikaru, is it even possible to pull this off? Where are they going to live? How are they going to fit in? If they’re not accepted and a fight breaks out, this land could be torn apart.”

“Don’t you think that once people find out the truth, they’re going to be sympathetic?” Hikaru asked. “The people here are all good, and all willing to help. Also, not meaning to be insensitive, but… All of the really strong dragon haters, the ones that organized that crusade… They’re gone now.”

That was a bit harsh, but it was true. Those people hadn’t been cruel, really, but simply had strong ideas on how to do what they thought was best. It had been an idea that, in their eyes, would protect the people they loved. Thankfully, not many people had similar ideas about their methods.

“Hikaru…” Katsumi sighed, tilting her chair on its back two legs. “If I was sure that this would be the absolute right thing, I would be saying ‘yes, let’s go’, but…”

“Then come on! Let’s go! We would be saving a lot of people from wasting away on a volcanic, dead spanse of land, we would be giving homes and growing relationships… Where is the wrong in that?”

She looked away from him, puffing her cheeks fill of air and slowly letting the breath out, shaking her head. Her two front chair legs hit the ground with a sharp, wood-on-stone sound and Hikaru’s heart sank, knowing that he was losing her, and when she looked up her eyes were hardened with resolve.

“Let’s go then. Let’s do this.”

“Wait… Seriously?” Hikaru just stared at her, mind blank with disbelief. “You mean that?”

“More than anything in the world.” She answered, nodding, and Hikaru leapt from his seat, running over to hug her.

“This is going to be amazing, Mom. We’re going to change everything.”

“We can’t just announce that the dragons are moving in, though.” She said. “We have to tell the town about everything, come to a consensus, and then hold some kind of vote. The results could come back negative.”

She was right. The town would have to consent to letting the dragons living next door to avoid major conflict.

“We don’t have much time though.” Hikaru said. “If the dragons wake up and attack before we can get an agreement, the idea wouldn’t be very popular anymore.”

She nodded contemplatively. Then she shrugged.

“I guess we should get started then. As soon as possible.”

They stayed up late into the night, discussing where the dragons would live, how to split the land, and how to break the news to the main city, if they should even do it at all. Hikaru hadn’t realized how much of a political headache gaining this many citizens seemingly out of thin air this would be, but he knew that when it was all said and done, it would be more than worth it.


	17. Chapter 17

When he got up the next morning, extremely excited to share the news with everyone, he found the dragons in a state of slight panic.

“What is it?” He asked Keito, seeing something very wrong with the look in his eyes. “Did something happen?”

“Chinen is missing.”

“...missing?” Hikaru echoed, looking around. Sure enough, the little dragon was nowhere to be seen. Keito nodded.

“He wasn’t here when we woke up this morning, and…”

“Maybe he went home to get something?” Hikaru suggested, trying to think of some explanation. “Maybe he’s out flying, or…”

Keito was shaking his head as he spoke. “Yamada and Daiki went home to look already, and if he was flying out, he would have said something to someone.”

“Where all have you guys looked?” He asked. Keito thought back, struggling slightly with his words.

“The island, the perimeter of the peninsula, all throughout the woods…”

“Have you gone into town yet?” Hikaru asked. Keito shook his head. “Then we’ll go there. Alright?”

Hikaru could only imagine the possibilities flashing through Keito’s head. Someone could have found out about Chinen, and hurt him, or… “Alright?” he asked again. This time, Keito nodded.

“He’s going to be fine.”

Keito nodded again, and then they all headed into town.

They were swamped when they arrived. Hikaru had forgotten that while he and his friends had been visiting the dragons in the woods, the other townspeople hadn’t seen them since the crusade to kill the dragons. They all still thought the group were friends of Yabu’s, and they were quite fond of the so-called visitors, each person they came across trying to catch them up on their version of recent events.

“And then this huge red and brown dragon came out of nowhere and--”

“Yes, fascinating.” Ryutaro said shortly, cutting off Mrs. Inohara. This was the third story someone was trying to tell him about himself, and he seemed tired of it. “Listen; we’re looking for someone.”

“Oh goodness, who?”

“Chinen. About this tall, black bowl cut… Seen him anywhere?”

“Little Chinen Yuri?” She asked. They all nodded anxiously, hoping that she had something. Everyone else they had asked so far had just shaken their heads immediately.

“No, I don’t know where he is. I’m just now seeing any of you! Also, Yuto dear, are you alright? How did you get that nick on your elbow?”

“I tripped.” Yuto said quickly. Her concern was touching, but not what they needed at the moment. “It’s fine. It was really nice to see you, thank you for your time.”

She just nodded, surprised by their curtness, saying farewell as they started off again. It was surprising, just how many people stopped them to tell the dragons hello, or ask how they were doing, or even tell them they were glad to see them back in town. The dragons had made an extremely positive impact on the townspeople for the short time that they had been there, and Hikaru hoped this attitude would carry over when the truth came out. Sure, a prejudice could win out, but all of the townspeople liked Keito, Yuto, Chinen, and Ryutaro; they liked watching Yamada and Daiki strolling through the streets, sharing pastries and holding hands; they liked the dragons, and when they found out that they were, in fact, dragons, the affection could very well carry over into agreeing and accepting them on to their land.

At least, that’s what Hikaru hoped.

So far, their stroll through the streets hadn’t rendered anything helpful. No one they talked to had seen Chinen at all, and the less help they got the more anxious everyone became. Hikaru was almost certain for a while that Chinen would be at Takaki’s house but he wasn’t, and checking Inoo and Yabu’s houses as well rendered nothing but extra pairs of eyes to search for Chinen with. By the time they had made it all the way through town, Hikaru was nearly at a loss.

They had come upon the harbor houses, knocking on Ninomiya’s door. The slight panic in Yuto’s voice wasn’t even masked as he asked

“Have you seen our friend Chinen?”

“The black haired little squirt?” Ninomiya asked back, scowling slightly. “Yeah, I saw him. He stole my husband from the the table this morning during breakfast. They’re out fishing on the dock.”

Everyone slumped down in relief, Hikaru taking a moment to rest an arm on Yabu’s shoulder and lean on him. Chinen wasn’t lost, taken, or hurt; he was out fishing with Ohno Satoshi.

They all thanked and apologized to Ninomiya, making their way to the docks. Chinen was seated at the dock, a fishing rod in his hands, with Ohno next to him in a hat, talking. Chinen was listening so intently that it looked like something extremely important was being said, but Hikaru thought second of it when he heard what Ohno was saying.

“And then I told him: ‘If you don’t like it, then chase your own cows!’ That shut him up real quick.”

Chinen laughed a bit too hard, Ryutaro running forward and tackling him in a hug.

“What the hell?” He asked Chinen, who was surprised and confused as to who it was grabbing him around the middle.

“Oh Ryu! Hi!” Chinen turned, seeing all of them standing there. He gave them smiles and waves, completely oblivious to the atmosphere. “Hi guys!”

“We just spent the entire morning looking for you!” Takaki exclaimed indignantly, stalking up to him. Takaki’s shouting made Chinen’s smile fade a little. “We looked through the whole town, Daiki and Yamada flew back to the island to look, and you’re just sitting here fishing with—uh, hi, Ohno-san.”

“We’re about done here, if you need him back.” Ohno said, concerned by Takaki’s distressed outburst.

“It’s fine, he can stay.” Keito said. “We just would like it if he told someone where he was going first, next time.”

“Sorry.” Chinen said, ducking his head. Ryutaro let go of him. “We hadn’t seen anyone in a while, so I wanted to drop in. I didn’t know how long fishing was going to take. But we caught a lot of fish!”

Chinen smiled up at them again, and Hikaru could feel the concerned tension that had been there before beginning to ease up. Sure enough, the bucket of fish between them was nearly full, Ohno taking the handle in one hand as he sighed, stretching out his legs and standing.

“We did well. Let’s call it a morning, huh? I’m getting pretty cold, sitting here by the water.”

Chinen nodded in agreement, beaming at him, and the two of them began to pack up their things.They all made it back to Ninomiya and Ohno’s house together, Chinen bidding the two men farewell and Hikaru making sure to thank Ninomiya again for his information on Chinen’s whereabouts.

“So, I have some good news for you guys.” Hikaru said as they walked. “Want to hear it?”

They all nodded in response, not sure of what to expect. He didn’t know if he should preface what he was about to say or not, his hesitance making Yamada ask a prompting

“What is it?”

“Well, yesterday…” Hikaru couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “My mother said yes to the idea. She wants to give the coexistence thing a try.”

Yuto let out an excited shout, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders; Daiki picked up Yamada around the waist, spinning him around.

“Wait, really?” Inoo asked. A few of them were in a state of disbelief. Hikaru nodded.

“We talked last night. She wants to give the dragons a home here. It isn’t going to be very easy though.”

“We know that.” Ryutaro responded flatly.

“What do we need to do?” Keito asked. Hikaru had to think for a few moments, trying to remember all of the elements they had considered yesterday.

“First my mom is going to head out into the city and ask for permission to use that territory. If you guys are going to turn into citizens, the council and leaders need to know about it. I don’t think she’s going to try to explain that you guys are dragons, though. Just people from another land. So the whole transformation thing will need to be on the down low for a while.”

“Will it need to be on the down low for people here as well?” Yamada asked. He sounded extremely reluctant.

“No, everyone here is going to know, because we’re going to be honest with them about everything that’s happening. We just need to make sure you all are in the good books.”

Keito nodded in understanding. “This needs to be as peaceful as possible, or a lot of people could get hurt.” he said. Hikaru nodded.

“Which is why my mother is insisting on a vote after everything has been explained.” He said. “If everybody else doesn’t want you here—which I doubt would happen, so don’t worry too much, but still, it is a possibility—we’re going to have to think of something else.”

Think of something else, not give up. These dragons were his friends now; there was no way he was giving up on helping them. The mood grew a bit somber at the idea of their plain failing. Chinen broke the silence, speaking up.

“I’m glad I went into town this morning, then.”

“Yeah, why exactly were you there?” Yabu asked. Simply wanting to drop by and see people didn’t seem like something Chinen would do. He could be wrong, but it seemed out of place.

“Don’t get me wrong, I really like Ohno--” That was obvious “--but mostly I was curious about how people felt about dragons after the attack happened. I wanted to know if it had changed the mindsets of people.”

“And?” Hikaru asked. “What did you find out?”

“Nothing that bad, really. I was surprised.” Chinen answered. “Thankfully, people were of the idea that is was us that were attacked, and not the other way around. The idea that was acted on wasn’t a popular one. Not unpopular enough to tell the Chief about, apparently, but still. Even so, it doesn’t necessarily make these people our biggest fans.”

Hikaru nodded. All in all, things looked good. Hikaru’s mother was setting out tomorrow to talk to the officials in the city, giving them a few days to woo the townspeople before all hell would break loose.

And that’s exactly what they did. The Chief left town on business and the dragons got to work, helping whoever they could with whatever they needed. Everyone greatly enjoyed both the dragons’ company and their assistance. Chinen got three separate adoption offers, Keito and Yuto being told to just move in by Mrs. Inohara, who declared she didn’t want them to leave. She got nervous laughs and a “We’ll think about it” in response, all of them knowing just how close to coming true that request could be.

Winter was coming dangerously close to a close, winds from the west warming the air and melting the ice in thin waters. Keito approached Hikaru almost apologetically a day before the Chief was supposed to return. There was something the dragons all had to do.

“We need to go back home for a few days, and see if anyone wakes up.” He said. “That way, if someone does, we won’t seem like we’ve been gone for the whole time. Shoon and Hashimoto also need to stay updated.”

Hikaru nodded, understanding. “Hurry back.” He said. “And be careful. People might begin being put on dragon watch, so if you try to get back…”

“Be as careful as possible.” Keito finished. “I understand.”

The dragons had obviously talked previously about flying home, because all Keito had to give to them was a thumbs up. By the next day, they had gone, sneaking out at night.

It was a restless next few days, Hikaru and his friends at a bit of a loss of what to do. They gravitated towards each other, sitting on logs that surrounded a large fire in the center of the town. Hikaru’s mother returned midday, asking where the dragons were.

“They went back home for a little bit.” Hikaru answered. “To see if anyone has begun waking up yet. They should be back soon.”

Hikaru’s mother nodded. “The weather has been getting warmer.” She said. “That makes sense.”

“Well?” Hikaru asked, anxious. “How did it go?”

She sat on a log across from the five of them, clearing her throat, preparing herself to tell a tale.

“When I rode down there, I found myself in the middle of some sort of parade.” She said, making them laugh. “I was worried at first, because I thought it could be a protest or something, but then someone put a flower necklace around my neck and spun me around. Up there they’re already preparing for the return of spring.”

Hikaru shook his head a little. He had never really understood the traditions of the city people.

“However, thanks to the celebration going on, it took longer than I expected to get the council to meet with me. Once something actually managed to get arranged, it didn’t take long. Population growth is never a bad thing, and the space the dragons will be taking up isn’t being used for anything. We now have approval to start moving them in.”

Hikaru liked that his mother was saying ‘we’. It made him feel responsible, which, while a little nerve-wracking to receive credit for the events that were unraveling, was a good feeling too.

Daiki was the one most excited by the news, leaning over a little with a smile on his face, the pinky end of his fist in between his teeth. The other three were extremely pleased as well, and now all the was left was for the dragons to come back, so they could hold a meeting with the town and get everything moving. He wanted the dragons to be moved in already. However, when a few days had passed and their friends still hadn’t returned, he began to get worried. Keito had only said they would be gone a few days, but “a few days” had come and gone more than once.

“Where are they?” he asked. The five of them were all piled in Inoo’s room, and Hikaru was resisting the urge to get up from his seat on the bed and start pacing like Daiki was.

“Well, some of the dragons have to have woken up by now. They’re probably trying to explain stuff back home.” Takaki said, trying to rationalize the unknown events. But then he shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry just yet. There isn’t a reason for everything not to be fine.”

That was true. Nothing had happen to suggest anything had gone wrong. The dragons were just at home, which was a safe place for them to be. They couldn’t have been shot down in the air or anything, because no one had been put on watch yet. They couldn’t have gotten injured in any way that Hikaru could think of. Hikaru knew that Takaki was right, but it didn’t ease his mind much.

Two more days went by without incident, Hikaru expecting another one to just come and go when a startlingly loud booming sound could be heard, muffled by distance. Hikaru could hear it from inside his room, hurrying out to see what the sound was. He was a bit late to coming outside, others already crowding together, talking in concerned voices and looking around, confused looks on their faces. Yabu found Hikaru, hurrying over to him and grabbing his upper arm.

"Do you know what that was?" Yabu asked. Hikaru just shook his head, looking out into the ocean. It had sounded like an explosion, the loud boom now calming to a low rumbling sound. Hikaru was about to ask Yabu if he could see something when the grip around his arm tightened.

"Oh no..."

"What?" Hikaru asked. Yabu's voice had faded to a whisper, and he sounded horrified.

"Over there... Look!"

Yabu pointed to the right, Hikaru having to crane his neck to see what he was pointing at. When he finally did he was confused, the only thing in his vision a smoke cloud, with an orange flash coming up from the middle.

"Yabu, what is that?"

"That's… The volcano is erupting."

A volcano erupting. The dragons.

"No. No no no."

Hikaru's mind was blank, able to think. He felt sick to his stomach when he let Daiki’s eyes in the crowd, his friend holding tightly to his brother's arm, tears in his eyes.

"Hikaru." His mother found him, concerned and asking "What happened?"

"A volcanic eruption." Hikaru answered when he was able to find his voice. “The island that the dragons live on, it..."

"Oh." Her voice had gone soft, putting a hand on Hikaru's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Hikaru..."

"They could be okay." Yabu said loudly, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself than anyone else. "They were awake, they could be flying away, they might be..."

Somehow, Hikaru couldn’t find it in himself to believe him. If hibernation wasn’t over a lot of the dragons would now be dead, the volcano erupting as they slept, lava filling the interior of their homes.


	18. Chapter 18

It didn’t take long for even Yabu began to lose faith in his optimistic theory. When a week had passed and none of the dragons had returned, Hikaru began feeling hopeless. They refused to leave Daiki alone, holding on to each other for comfort, taking turns trying to say that things were going to be okay.

“It could still be fine.”

Daiki rolled his eyes, hands clenched into fists. Hikaru was tired of saying the phrase, but saying it was better than seeing his friends’ forlorn faces.

“No, I’m serious!” He insisted. “They took so long coming back because people were waking up, right? Which means they were awake in time to feel the eruption, and had time to escape. They’re regrouping and trying to figure out what to do. That’s all.”

“I hope you’re right.” Inoo said, looking up from where he was sitting. “I really, really do, but…”

The feeling of sad resignation was overwhelming, and the little bit of energy that Hikaru had managed to dig up while explaining his theory fizzled out, sitting next to Inoo and offering up his shoulder. Inoo took it, leaning heavily on him and sighing.

“What should we do?” Hikaru’s mother asked him when night fell and he returned home, office door open, looking through the doorway at him.

“About what?” he asked back, going into her office and taking the chair opposite hers, sitting at the other side of her desk.

“The dragons.” She answered. “Are they coming back? What should I tell the capital about the new citizens we’re supposed to be gaining? Nothing?”

“What do you want me to do Mom? Fly over there myself and find them? Go back in time and stop the volcano from erupting?” Her questions were pulling him closer and closer to the confirmation of the worst, and it was the last thing he wanted to think about.

“I’m sorry.” She said quietly, and Hikaru’s heart sank, realizing he had been yelling at her.

“No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

She gave him a small smile, and somehow all it did was make him feel worse.

“It’s fine.” She said. “I know. You’re upset. I’m upset. But… We do have to look past this, at least a little. If there isn’t anything we can do, then…”

“Let’s go.” Hikaru said, suddenly struck with inspiration, surprising her a bit. “Let’s do what the others did, take a boat out to the island, and see what’s going on over there. That way, we’ll know if—”

He could tell she wasn’t taking to the idea. “What?” he asked her.

“Hikaru, the last time a group of people rode a ship down to the dragons’ home, only half of them came back alive. I don’t want that to happen to you.”

“But nothing would happen to me.” Hikaru insisted. “Keito will be there, he’s saved me twice before, it’s—”

“One dragon against all the others isn’t going to go well, for him or anyone else.” Hikaru could already tell that no matter what he said, she wasn’t going to agree to the idea. He decided against fighting for it because he knew that deep down, he was terrified of discovering an island completely devoid of life.

“Then… I don’t know what we can tell the capital.” Hikaru answered. “They could come back. We don’t know anything for sure. I mean, Takaki is already in the third stage of grief or something, but that doesn’t mean they’re dead.”

Dead. Hikaru hadn’t given the word permission to slip past his lips yet, and now that it had it weighed heavily in his stomach, making him feel a sick. They could all be dead, drowned in molten rock. He swallowed.

“You’re right.” Hikaru’s mother waved a hand dismissively, detecting the mood settling in the room and trying to disrupt it. “I’m trying to rush into decisions. I’m worrying about this too soon. There’s still time. They could still come back.”

The way she said the words really made it sound like they wouldn’t come true.

People in the town were asking again for the location of Yabu’s friends, asking when they were coming back to visit, when they could see them again. A lot of people missed them, and it made a lump grow in Hikaru’s throat. As easy of an excuse that it would be, he didn’t just want to say that they had gone back to the city. Really, he didn’t want to give any answer at all, so he just shrugged and said he didn’t know. Yabu began attaching himself to Hikaru at every chance he got, and Hikaru felt that he ought to find the constant contact annoying, but really, he was having the opposite reaction. It was nice and comforting having Yabu around, even at the times when they didn’t talk much.

Daiki had stopped venturing to the forest every morning to see if the dragons had returned in the night. While it was a type of giving up, Hikaru was grateful. Not seeing him go out at all was better than watching him walk back into town, looking resigned and disappointed. Hikaru didn’t see much of Daiki, to be honest. He would let them in if they asked, but he didn’t go outside.

Inoo had taken up practicing sword fighting. He would go behind his house with a wooden sword he borrowed from Daiki’s family’s shop, and that was where he spent most of his time, Hikaru sometimes coming around back with him to watch.

“What brought this on, anyway?” Hikaru had to ask one day, after he and Yabu had watched the third passata sotto in a row, his Yabu’s head on his shoulder.

“Brought what on?” Inoo asked, slightly out of breath.

“The whole… Sword thing.” Hikaru answered, unsure of how else to describe it, gesturing to Inoo’s body and hoping he would get the message. Inoo finished another jab, then stopped to answer their question.

“Ryutaro said that I couldn’t protect myself. I’m going to change that.” He answered, not looking at them. “I don’t need that jerk stepping in front of me every time something jumps out of the bushes.”

The look of determination on Inoo’s face made something in Hikaru’s heart ache more than it had in days, and he was about to get up and leave, unable to bear it, when Takaki ran to them. The expression on his face was some sort of mix of disbelief and wild excitement and it was the most alive anyone around Hikaru had been for days.

“What?” Yabu asked before Takaki had even opened his mouth. “What is it?”

The way Takaki had to hold up a hand and stoop to breathe after running was rather anticlimactic. Once he had enough air in his lungs to speak, he pointed in the direction of the docks and said

“The dragons. They’re flying up right now. They’re back.”

Takaki hadn’t even finished speaking by the time Hikaru broke into a run. There was something weird rising in his chest, a feeling that was either going to make him float into the air or constrict so tightly around his chest that his ribs would crack. Or both.

Sure enough, as he was running up to the docks, he could see them. Wings in the air, flying together in one formation. There were less dragons than he was used to seeing flying at them, and by a lot; the number had to be in the twenties. Despite this reduction in size, people were still rushing around, scrambling for weapons, and as much as Hikaru wanted to run up to the dragons in greeting, he needed to do something.

“Mom!” he shouted, turning tail and running for home, trying to find her. She had barely set foot outside the house, and he gave all the information to her at once.

“The dragons are back, they’re here, all of them are here and people are going to try to hurt them and we—”

She nodded and began running, somehow understanding his rapid speech. She entered the town square with an authority that demanded attention, stopping in the middle and taking a deep breath.

“STOP!”

Everyone immediately froze. The Chief barely ever shouted, and when she did it was for something supremely important. She glanced around, making sure she had everyone’s attention before she began to speak.

“We are not going to raise our weapons against these dragons.”

The protest was immediate. Voices swelled so loud that Hikaru was worried about his mother regaining her control over the situation, but she simply raised one arm into the air, waiting there until silence fell again. Hikaru glanced over his shoulder. The dragons were almost upon them.

“They are not going to attack us. I promise.”

“How do you know?” Someone spoke up. The Chief shook her head.

“Please, trust me. You can keep your weapons in your hands and as much distance as you feel comfortable with, but do not attack.”

Slowly, people began nodding. Many of them took steps back from the docks, behind Hikaru and his mother even, standing on the back edge of the town square. Inoo was the first one to run up and stand next to Hikaru, but soon all of his friends were there. Daiki was scanning the approaching dragons anxiously, looking for Yamada.

“Hey…” Takaki pointed. “Is that Keito in the front?”

With a bit of squinting, Hikaru realized that Takaki was right. He had expected to see Keito’s father front and center, but instead of pink scales there was the familiar frosty blue color, with Yuto and Chinen on either side of him.

Keito slowed in the air, letting his huge body rear up to be nearly vertical, then landing, feet making heavy contact with the land directly in front of the Chief. Complete silence filled the air, followed shortly by each dragon behind Keito landing, one by one. Hikaru heard a small gasp from his right, realizing with relief that the sound was Daiki catching sight of Yamada. With Ryutaro quite hard to miss, standing with two dragons that looked awfully like himself, Hikaru felt a weight on his chest lifting. All of their friends were accounted for.

Keito had the small bag containing his clothing around his neck, slowly contorting his posture so that it slipped off and fell to the ground. Then he began to change, blue turning pink, shrinking and gaining a human form. As soon as the transformation was complete, a buzz broke out from the people behind them. Someone even shouted out Keito’s name in confusion but Keito paid it no mind, quickly dressing himself. He caught Hikaru’s eyes for a moment, and Hikaru could see the fear coursing through his entire body, kept from the surface by nothing but sheer determination.

“This might be the wrong thing to do, or the wrong thing to ask. I might be asking too much of you. But our home has been destroyed, and we have nowhere to go. So, on behalf of my people…”

Keito got down on one knee, bowing upper body. He spoke a bit louder to make sure he was heard.

“Please… We need your help.”

Then, slowly, all the dragons behind Keito began to bow, each one getting down on their haunches and ducking their heads. It was an incredible sight, and even the Chief looked shocked by the full display of respect. Hikaru had never heard such a strong, deafening silence in his life, taking a quick glance behind him. The entire town was quiet and wide-eyed, weapons lowered slightly, eyes transfixed on Keito and the rest of the dragons. They were confused, and understandably so, Hikaru turning to his mother and giving her a questioning glance. What was she going to do?


	19. Chapter 19

Her mind was working a mile a minute, staring at Keito’s bowed head. Then she seemed to reach a conclusion, letting out a deep breath.

“Raise your head, Okamoto.”

Keito did as he was told, looking at her again, his set determination obviously beginning to shy away. He was afraid of what she was going to do and honestly, Hikaru was too.

“We need to talk.” She said, voice ringing out. She turned, making it obvious that she was not only addressing the dragons, but her citizens as well. “All of us, together.”

“Is that Keito?” A confused and loud voice that Hikaru recognized as Inohara’s rang through the crowd. Hikaru’s mother gestured for Keito to answer.

“I… Yes, it’s me.”

“Did… Were you just a dragon…?”

“Yes.”

Inohara fell silent again, looking even more confused than before.

“Listen—I have something I need to tell you.” Katsumi began again. Inoo tapped Hikaru’s arm, raising an eyebrow in silent question._ Is she telling everyone everything? Now?_

Hikaru shrugged. _I think so._ Inoo’s question was answered fully with the Chief’s next statement.

“As you all just witnessed, the dragons that have been flying onto our lands can turn into humans.”

Whispers immediately broke out throughout the crowd, rushed and surprised and maybe even angry. Hikaru’s mother didn’t even try to quiet them, letting them talk amongst themselves for a few minutes before raising her voice again.

“I discovered this knowledge recently, and have been working with my son, the four young men up here with him, and the five of their friends that all of you have well gotten to know to attempt to figure something out.”

The crowd quieted again, listening intently.

“As we have learned from the reports given by the group that went out to the dragons’ island, the place is practically uninhabitable. There isn’t running water or soil to grow crops. The dragons can’t live there. But…” She took a breath. It was time to pitch the idea. “The wooded area between our land and the city is available. We would be able to offer them a place there.”

Hikaru closed his eyes, wincing slightly, anticipating an uproar. However, quite the opposite happened. It was quiet, everyone still looking at the Chief, waiting for her to keep going. So, hesitantly, she did..

“I have gotten permission from the city to add more citizens, but I wasn’t going to do anything until it was all explained and we got a consenting vote from all of you. It was going to be a slower process than this, but as you all can see, they need our help now.”

"How long did you know about the dragons being… Not completely dragons?” Ninomiya asked loudly. Hikaru’s mother gestured to Hikaru to explain, catching him off guard.

“Well… That time Yabu and I went missing was when the two of us found out about it—we were stuck in a cave with Keito and Yuto, because Yuto was injured. Takaki and Daiki and Inoo learned the truth when they came to find us, and that’s when we all met Chinen and Yamada and Ryutaro.”

“So… That story you told when you returned… That was true?”

A number of the townspeople were looking at Hikaru skeptically, but the larger majority were beginning to at least accept the idea as true, and they weren’t reacting negatively. They weren’t reacting positively, per se, but there wasn’t a riot.

“Yes.” Hikaru nodded. “They saved our lives, and upon hearing about how the dragons lived, I decided I wanted to do something about it. When we told the Chief about everything, she also said she would see what she could do. And now that their home has been destroyed—that’s what that volcanic eruption was—they really need somewhere to go. I think they should come here.”

“Okay, but…” Yamashita spoke up, a confused look on his face. “What will we get from giving some our land away?”

“They’re not moving in on land that we are currently using.” Katsumi clarified. “The empty wooded area is where they would be, so they can sustain themselves on their own, instead of taking our resources.”

Quiet murmuring had broken out, Hikaru turning to his friends.

“Well?” He asked quietly. “How do you think this is going?”

“Better than I expected.” Takaki answered earnestly, Inoo nodding in agreement. Daiki hadn’t turned to them, eyes still transfixed on Yamada’s face. Yamada’s head was still bowed, same as the other dragons, and a closer look at Daiki revealed that he was biting his lips hard between his teeth, eyes watery and disbelieving, almost threatening to spill over. Hikaru willed Yamada to just look up, just to glance at Daiki, but Yamada stayed still.

“I think this will end well. I think they’re going to agree.” Yabu said. Unlike Daiki, his face was bright, tone hopeful. Someone in the crowd was raising their hand up, waiting patiently to be acknowledged. It was Nishikido Ryo, a short, blunt, but friendly man that kept mostly to himself and his friends.

“Yes Nishikido?” Hikaru’s mother asked, not noticing him until Hikaru nudged her shoulder and pointed to him.

“I realize that the dragons won’t be living with us, but would we be able to move into their area?”

That was a strange question, especially because of who it was coming from. Nishikido’s friends were a tightly knit group, Hikaru unable to fathom why he would want to move away.

The question made the Chief pause, then look back as Keito. Keito simply shrugged, and Hikaru understood why. It would probably feel wrong to be setting standards and rules about land that technically wasn’t even his own yet.

“As long as they have enough room, and there’s no malicious intent, I don’t really see why not. Can I ask why you asked this question?”

The man immediately looked hesitant, as though he didn’t want to answer, but felt he should.

“I’m a dragon too.” he finally said. Gasps surrounded the statement and he visibly winced at the reaction, opening his mouth again, speaking quickly. “I always have been. I was dropped off on these shores as a child, and when I found out that this town attacked dragons, and was attacked by dragons, I hid. I thought I was a freak, being such a strange combination, but… I’m grateful these dragons have shown up here. I want them to stay.”

Silence followed Nishikido’s words. Hikaru was in shock. He would have never guessed something like this. He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like, hiding half of your identity from everyone, not knowing what was wrong or why something so incredible happened, or how any of it was even possible. He had a feeling that if the dragons weren’t allowed to stay in the end, Nishikido would leave with them.

Nishikido’s monologue had provided Hikaru’s mother with a way to propose the question, opening her mouth to speak.

“It is time to decide whether the dragons will be allowed to stay here. All in favor of offering them a home, say ‘I’.”

“I.”

The sound was unanimous, ringing through the town and over the waters, and Hikaru felt a smile swell on his face, incredibly happy for the dragons, and proud of his town. The Chief turned to the dragons, lifting her arms and beaming.

“Lift your heads!” She exclaimed. “Come into our town, and let us all eat. You must be hungry. It is time for celebration; we have lost enemies and gained new friends today.”

As soon as the Chief was finished speaking and the dragons’ heads began to rise, Daiki ran out into the sea of scales, all but throwing himself at Yamada. He was crying, fully crying now, and Yamada wrapped Daiki up in his body, the two pulling themselves as close to each other as possible.

Hikaru walked up to Keito, who looked ready to collapse. Hikaru pulled him in for a tight hug, relief flooding his body, and Keito hugged back, leaning heavily on Hikaru as if he needed the support to stay standing.

“You did it.” Hikaru said quietly. As soon as Hikaru had seen Keito in the front of the pack, he had known what had happened. His parents must have died in the eruption, but he had been permitted no time to mourn them—he was the premature leader of them now, the responsibility of taking care of all of the dragons falling abruptly and heavily on to his shoulders.

“We did it.” Keito whispered back. He sounded exhausted, but immensely relieved. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”

Keito was taken from Hikaru’s arms by Yuto, the man pulling him close and pressing a kiss to his lips, calming him and steadying him and reassuring him all at once. Keito sighed into him, burrowing his head into Yuto’s shoulder and leaving it there.

One by one all of the dragons turned slowly to their human form, figuring it would be more comfortable that way for everyone involved. Inoo had rushed into the crowd not long after Daiki had, and when Hikaru finally found him he almost began to laugh.

Ryutaro was struggling to put a shirt on, yelping, Inoo raining punches on his body. The hits didn’t seem to have much force behind them at all, and even if they did they couldn’t have hurt much.

“I was so terrified… I thought you were dead, you completely dim-witted, politically incorrect, boneheaded jackass!”

Inoo’s voice was high with extremely emotional relief and Ryutaro gave up on getting completely dressed, laughing out loud at Inoo’s rather incredible insult and pulling the older man in for a bone-crushing hug.

“I missed you too.”

All of the reuniting was heartwarming to see, Chinen rushing about to hug everyone, but Hikaru was still astounded by how little dragons there were. There had been over sixty crammed in that tiny mountain together, but now about twenty—if that many, Hikaru really couldn’t tell—remained. It was positively devastating, and as much as Hikaru didn’t want to dwell on the negative, wanting to think only about the fact that the dragons were getting a real, proper home now and at least this many were safe, it nagged at the back of his mind.

It took a few days to get all the casualties straight. Many of the names listed in the memorial ceremony held a few days later were names Hikaru did not recognize, like Yasuda Shota and Katori Shingo, but some of the names Hikaru was able to identify, like both of the Morimoto parents, Yamada Misaki, and Yuto’s father. None of the dragons were very vocal in their mourning, holding each others hands, as though if they didn’t act strong for each other everything would fall apart. And maybe it would; Hikaru couldn’t imagine how it would feel to go through what they were being put through.

Despite not knowing any of the other dragons personally, Hikaru and his friends still attended the ceremony. It was an extremely mellowing experience, the service led by Keito, whose voice shook nearly the entire time. Hikaru’s heart ached for him. Not only was Keito in mourning, he was nervous and completely unsure of himself, confessing later that day to Hikaru alone that he didn’t feel ready in any way to lead a group of people, especially through a revolution this large.

“But you can do it. You can, and you’re going to do it well.” Hikaru told him. “You’re all they have left.”

Keito nodded, setting his jaw but looking rather terrified as he did, so Hikaru continued. “They believe in you, Keito. You’re Okamoto Kenichi’s son, and you’re about to lead them into the best years of their lives.”

Hikaru couldn’t tell if Keito believed what he was being told, but it did seem to give him at least a little more confidence, the waver in his voice gone the next time he spoke to the dragons as a whole.


	20. Chapter 20

The entire dragon community stayed in the forest while the more political things were being sorted out. They insisted that it was fine, that they wouldn’t be getting cold or hungry, so while hospitality had been offered to a few of them, none of them took the offer. Thankfully, they weren’t in the forest for too long; Keito was working on everything as fast as he possibly could. He was in Hikaru’s house nearly every day, meeting with the Chief, or out in town, talking to farmers and traders and fishers, trying to get arrangements, apprenticeships, and agreements worked out. He seemed to know what he was doing, or at least enough to get things done, and with Yuto by his side as a comforting force and advisor, Hikaru trusted that things were going for the best.

And things did seemed to be going well. Before two weeks had time to pass, Hikaru’s mother announced to him that it was time for the dragons to begin constructing their own homes.

“Really?” Hikaru was impressed, excited and ready to get started.

“Yeah.” Hikaru’s mother was quite pleased about it too. “I was thinking about going out and requesting that people help, but I don’t want to force interactions.”

Hikaru nodded, understanding why. All interactions between humans and dragons had been extremely tentative, conducted entirely in human form and treated as though the tiniest of things could set either side off. Though Hikaru felt that it was a slight bit excessive, he supposed it was better to be safe than sorry, and he knew that not everyone was as accepting of, or comfortable around, their new citizens as he was.

“I don’t think that just asking around would be a bad thing, though.” Hikaru suggested. “As long as nobody feels particularly pressured into doing anything there shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“I hope so.” She answered, doubtful, but in the end they decided to go with the idea. It would be seen as less of a formal request if Hikaru asked it instead so he took a walk to town square, the place already bustling with business and socializing.

“Hey, so…” He spoke his first words loudly, trying to catch everyone’s attention, but once he was successful and everyone’s eyes were on him he felt awkward, trailing off for a moment before starting up again. “The dragons are going to start clearing land to build on today, and if anyone wanted to help, that would be amazing.”

Hikaru wasn’t sure what kind of response he was expecting, but he was quite surprised by the one that he got. Almost immediately people were agreeing, traveling home to grab axes, ropes, and other things to safely fell trees with, Mrs. Inohara in the front of the entire pack. She herself wasn’t wielding any foresting instruments, carrying a large basket full of food instead.

“I… I didn’t think so many people would be willing to help out.” Hikaru said, falling in step next to her. “This is amazing.” She just smiled at him.

“Those dragon friends of yours have done many good deeds for us. They helped around town for months, they were extremely kind, and they even brought you home to us safely! Not returning the favor would be downright blasphemous.”

Hikaru had to smile back, the two of them leading the way to the outskirts of town. It wasn’t until they made it into the trees, looking around, that Hikaru realized how much of a momentous task this endeavor was going to be. There were a ton of trees—and Hikaru wasn’t quite sure why he was so surprised by that, it was a forest, after all—and a great deal of them needed to be taken away to make enough room. It was going to be long, exhausting work.

They didn’t get to chopping right away. First, they had to decide how many trees to cut, the best way to go about the cutting, and where to put the trees after they had been cut down. Once places had been designated, they all got to work, swinging axes and struggling to keep wood chips out of their eyes.

Hikaru woke up the first day amazingly sore in his arms, shoulders, and back, and by the way Yabu wobbled into his room, let out a loud groan, and flopped on to Hikaru’s bed, it was obvious that he was aching just as much. Hikaru let out a shout of pain and surprise as Yabu’s body landed on him, laughing and using his arms and legs to envelop Yabu completely in his blankets. Yabu laughed back at him, and it was funny until Yabu squirmed so much that they got incredibly tangled and stuck, Hikaru completely unable to find his way out of his bed. In the end, in an attempt to disentangle themselves from Hikaru’s comforter, they fell to the floor with a loud, heavy thunk. However, they were successfully free from the duvet, Yabu rolling on to his back with a sigh.

“Ouch.” He mumbled.

“Every single one of my muscles hurts now, thanks to you.” Hikaru told him and Yabu laughed a little, apologizing but also declaring that he wasn’t going to be moving any time soon. Hikaru pulled him to his feet anyway, and after eating they made their way back out for another exciting day of cutting down trees.

Describing the process as exciting sounded sarcastic, but it really wasn’t. While the motion was monotonous, Hikaru just swinging his arms and upper body back and forth, there were always new people to talk to, new stories to hear and tell, and the excited shouts as a tree began to fall. It was nearly luck, sometimes, that people didn’t get hurt. Of course, once a tree had fallen it had to be taken away, which at first was a puzzling problem. Eventually it was decided that the dragons in their full, strong, dragon form, would pick up the fallen lumber and carry it to the designated area. The decision to have the dragons transforming to easier transport the wood was a bit of a delicate one, though it was eventually decided that it was not only for the best but much, much easier. Hikaru was worried about someone being caught off guard and, consequently, getting hurt, and while everyone was a bit tenser, they were also extremely careful, the lumbering finished without any major injuries.

Though both Inoo and Takaki complained at every breath about being tired or hungry or thirsty or bored, the least helpful people by far were Daiki and Yamada. They spent less time actually getting work done and more time flirting under the disguise of playing dumb games or getting into tickle fights, chasing each other around and sneaking away to kiss behind trees when they thought nobody was looking. Their relationship wasn’t by any means a secret, and they didn’t try to make it one, not that they probably could hide anything if they tried. It did make some people uncomfortable, thinking that a human wasn’t suitable for a dragon—or vice versa—but they truly didn’t care, and since none of the disapproving voices were very loud, it didn’t seem to matter.

Each day, the immense project was one step closer to being completed. It really was nonstop work, but there were always a few people from town that decided they had some free time to donate. The willingness to help was the main thing, in Hikaru’s opinion, that bridged the gap between the two groups of people that otherwise could have never been filled. Everyone got to know everyone else, feeling less like two separate towns and more like a community. And that community feeling was important, because the dragons needed to be taught a lot of things.

They needed to learn how to own land, and how to live off of it. They didn’t know how to keep cattle, or how to farm and prepare foods from grain, like breads. Explaining that vegetables were actually an important part of a balanced diet had been a particularly difficult topic to make them buy into, but eventually they got there.

The first few seeds and livestock were gifts, and with them came lessons on how often to weed and water, how to properly house sheep and when to let them graze, things like that. The dragons were all in on the process, their enthusiasm unmatched by anything else Hikaru had ever seen. They learned, and not just because they needed to, but because they wanted to. The chance to depend upon themselves and perhaps even get a shot at personal redemption for all that they had to be jumped at.

The dragons didn’t simply blend into the town, becoming faceless citizens; they learned traditions, and taught some of their own—though not having the ability to breathe fire of fly really made a few of them irrelevant—learned and taught new tricks and trades, and tried to assist back in as many ways as they could. It was a complete exchange, and Hikaru couldn’t be happier, or more relieved, with how it worked out.

It would have been so easy for everything to just crash and burn. One wrong action or thing to say could have caused everything to literally go up in smoke, but it seemed that the universe wanted nothing more than for them to succeed. Now, just one year after the offer of hospitality was extended, the dragons were completely settled in to their new homes.

All of their friends had constructed their houses right on the border between their new town and where Hikaru lived. Keito and Yuto’s home was small, quaint, and rather adorable, with random knickknacks piled on top of every cabinet or window ledge. They were Keito’s the dragon promising that he could tell a story about every one, insisting that they held value, and Hikaru couldn’t tell if he was actually that sentimental or if the tiny ceramic animals and and empty boxes and useless writing utensils were just the thing that Keito liked to collect. He decided not to ask.

Unfortunately for Yuto, his collection of shards of glass had been completely destroyed by the volcanic eruption. Yuto pretended that it didn’t matter, and that he was okay—and that he didn’t at all have a giant hole in his heart that could only be filled by dazzling, fragile, translucent pieces of clear sunshine—so at the first chance he got, Hikaru took Yuto to visit their town’s glassmith.

“…And then you let it cool!” Kamenashi said happily, placing the finished glass vase on the table in front of Yuto, whose eyes were blown wide with excitement and disbelief.

“You can just… Make glass?” he asked. Kamenashi nodded.

“Just put together fire and sand.” He confirmed. Yuto just stood there, eyes and mouth wide open, and it reminded Hikaru of his own expression when they learned about the dragons being able to transform into humans.

“And you can just make it whenever you want?”

Kamenashi nodded, smiling and raising an eyebrow at Hikaru, as if to ask where on earth it was that he had managed to get this kid from. “As long as I have the materials, I can make it. I usually don’t unless someone places an order, though.”

“That is amazing.” Yuto declared, reaching out to touch the vase. Kamenashi swatted his hand down.

“It’s still hot, be careful.”

After a few minutes of Yuto’s fascinated staring, Kamenashi laughed. “You know, I could just teach you how to make it, if you want.”

Yuto’s face completely lit up, jumping from his seat and gripping Kamenashi’s shoulders.

“Really?” he asked. Kamenashi nodded.

“I was beginning to think that I needed an apprentice.” he said. Yuto bowed four times in rapid succession.

“That would be amazing! Thank you so much!”

Hikaru could only imagine what Keito and Yuto’s house was going to look like once Yuto had a mastery of glass making under his belt. He would feel bad, but he figured that if Keito could see the excitement on Yuto’s face, he wouldn’t really mind.

Yamada also had a place to himself, deciding he wanted to live on his own. His cabin was next to Yuto and Keito’s place and it was relatively small, but so was Yamada, so it seemed to fit perfectly fine. Ryutaro, his brother, and his sister all stuck close, Chinen the only one staying with his parents.

By the time summer rolled around, Daiki decided that he was leaving town. He called Hikaru, Yabu, Inoo, and Takaki all together, making quite a dramatic speech about how he was leaving the peninsula, and how much he would miss them, and demanding a going away party—just to reveal that he was actually just moving in with Yamada, and would still be less than a mile away. Though they were annoyed at him for making them sad about his nonexistent departure, the move was extremely exciting news nonetheless, and they did hold a party in Yamada’s house, the house that he and Yamada would now be sharing. The two of them were beyond happy together, and Hikaru couldn’t be happier for them.

A surprising development was that Inoo and Ryutaro had become a completely unstoppable force. Despite initially being adamantly against anyone ever climbing on his back, Ryutaro seemed to have completely changed his mind, and at least half the time that he and Inoo were together they were out somewhere, exploring or adventuring and having completely ludicrous, near-death experiences to tell everyone when they got back on land. Inoo, apparently, didn’t scream anymore while they were in the air—somehow, Hikaru doubted that—and though the banter didn’t slow down for a second, theirs had become a friendship that was completely unbreakable.  
As per usual, Chinen was working on winning someone over. He already had half of the town wrapped around his finger, but he still hadn’t managed to get Ninomiya and Ohno under his thumb and was trying very hard to do so. Hikaru had an idea that the reason he hadn’t yet been successful was the fact that all of his advances on Ohno had been slightly romantic, seen as threatening by Ninomiya and rather strange by Ohno himself. Hikaru didn’t tell him that though, instead quite enjoying watching him struggle.

Since his attentions had been diverted, Chinen wasn’t clinging quite as much to Takaki anymore. Takaki’s lack of an overly affectionate companion didn’t last long, though, coming instead in the form of a young dragon named Tanaka Juri. He was a friend of Shintaro’s, Ryu’s younger brother, and upon setting eyes on Takaki, Juri claimed to be in love with him. Juri’s advances were cute and amusing, and not at all deterred by Takaki’s complaints.

“I don’t really like you though!” Takaki would say, but Juri would just grab his hand—an occurrence that had become common.

“You are the light in my fire! I shine when I’m with Takaki-kun!” He declared, and Takaki would hang his head and sigh, surrounded by coos and laughter.

Though it took a couple of months, five pep talks from Hikaru, and a few failed attempts, Yabu was finally able to talk to Yamashita Shoon. As it turned out, Shoon did remember Yabu. They talked about what had happened—Yabu apologizing for the scar, an apology that Shoon waved off—and even decided to do a little catching up. By the end of the little meeting they could definitely be considered on the road to becoming friends.

“Oh my god.” Yabu said, drawing out the last word as he laid his head heavily on Hikaru’s shoulder. “That was the most nerve-wracking thing I have ever done in my entire life.”

“It went really well though!” Hikaru said, rubbing Yabu on the back. The older man couldn’t disagree with that, because the meeting had definitely gone better than all of the horror stories Yabu had come up with—which he would recite to Hikaru in incredible detail, making him laugh—and now Yabu could say that his conscience had been cleared. Hikaru had encouraged Yabu to have the conversation alone, but Yabu had wanted him there for moral support, and because, as he had said rather simply, “I just want you with me, alright?”

Hikaru was sure his friendship with Yabu was changing, and while he wasn’t quite sure he knew where it was going, the weight of Yabu’s head on his shoulder and the feeling he had when Yabu smiled were things that he was beginning to like more and more, and he knew whatever direction their relationship took, he wouldn’t mind it.

Everything, by some twist of fate, had worked out for the best. The road to victory certainly hadn’t been an easy or quick one, but what had been accomplished as a result was nothing short of amazing. To think that it all had started out as a tiny, ridiculous idea was beyond belief, but it had. Everything was different. Being able to walk through town with Yabu’s voice in his ear, Yamada and Daiki passing them, laughing and holding hands, Ryutaro and Inoo touching down with another ridiculous story to tell, Keito making arrangements and settling agreements… Being able to see a dragon flying through the sky, happy and healthy and safe, made Hikaru positive that things could only get better from here.


End file.
